Facebook is tracking you. It is tracking your location; it is tracking your online activities; it is tracking the websites you visited; it is tracking what you searched on Google. And sadly, it is easy for third-parties to mine all the data Facebook collected from tracking you – and I. Cambridge Analytica just showed the world how easy it is to extract the personal data of Facebook users.
For you that might be thinking how possible and does Facebook really track my online activities, let me give you an instance that confirms Facebook is tracking you. Have you ever noticed that after checking out a product on Jumia, you start seeing Jumia showing you the advert of that product on Facebook – and other websites you visit?
That is the work of Facebook tracking your browsing history and online activities – and giving advertisers the room to retarget you. It is not only Facebook that tracks users online activities. All giant internet companies do it, and Google is responsible for showing you the Jumia advert retargeting you on every website you visit.
But the case with Facebook is that the social network is not doing much to protect the data and privacy of its users – and that is the reason Cambridge Analytica was able to mine the data of over 50 million Facebook users.
So how do you stop Facebook from tracking your browsing history? This post would answer the question, and show you how to stop Facebook from tracking your location, what you search on Google, and the websites you visit.
How to Stop Facebook Tracking Your Browsing History
In response to the Facebook data breach, Firefox has released an extension that helps you stop Facebook tracking your browsing history. The name of the extension is Facebook Container, and what the extension does it to “contain” Facebook into the tab on which it is opened.
Facebook knows what you searched on Google and the websites you visit by listening to the other tabs you open on your browser when you are logged in to the social network. So to stop Facebook tracking your browsing history, download and install Facebook Container extension.
Once the extension is enabled on your Mozilla Firefox, Facebook would be restricted to its tab. The extension also prevents you from using Facebook to register or login to other websites.
After downloading and installing the extension, your Facebook account would be logged out, and when you try to open the social network again, you would notice that the tab on which Facebook is opened is highlighted in blue.
This means the social network has been contained – and can’t track your online activities again.
Note: When Facebook Container is enabled on your Firefox browser, it not only prevents you from using Facebook to register and login to other websites but also blocks you from liking and commenting on websites using the Facebook embedded feature. This blocking is a part of the ways the extension stops Facebook from tracking your online activities.
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