Facebook’s secret setting they don’t want you to know but I’ll tell you
You know that expression? Women (or men), you can’t live with them but you can’t live without them. The same goes for social media networks.
We’ve gotten so used to chatting with people anytime, anywhere, it’s hard to imagine giving it up. Let’s face it, social media is a lot of fun, although you do need to be cautious.
Facebook, of course, is the giant with roughly 2 billion active users each month. There are a lot of things to love about Facebook.
You open the site or app from any internet-connected smartphone, tablet or laptop. Suddenly, you’re communicating in real-time, or close to it with billions of people around the world.
You see photos of your kids and grandchildren. You watch live videos of your friend’s wedding or breaking news from around the world, and so much more.
But there are downsides to Facebook and other social networking sites, too. A big one is the invasion of your privacy by Facebook.
Facebook tracking everything
To be fair, when you sign up, you’re allowing Facebook and other websites to keep tabs on you. You typically agree to this when you register on the site, although it may not always be clear that’s what you’re doing.
However, you may not realize just how closely Facebook keeps tabs on everything you do. Just think about this: Have you ever gone to a website like Amazon, searched for a specific item like wireless earbuds and then the next time you’re on Facebook, you see an ad for wireless earbuds?
That’s no accident. Facebook knows that you’ve visited other sites looking for earbuds (or books on raising teenagers or used cars, or whatever it is that you look at online).
If you like seeing ads that reflect your interests, no worries. Let Facebook continue tracking everything you do.
But if it gives you the creeps that Facebook and other sites are watching your every move, keep reading. We’ll tell you how to make them stop invading your privacy!
Bonus: Do you follow Kim Komando on Facebook? Visit Kim’s Facebook page here.
Interest-Based Advertising
You’ve probably heard the term, interest-based advertising. It’s a technique that websites and online advertisers use to track you. They use cookies, which identify the sites you’ve visited to predict the type of advertising you like to see.
Facebook is tracking everything you do, even when you’re not on Facebook. The good news is, it’s easy to stop them from tracking you.
Facebook and many other sites are members of the Digital Advertising Alliance. It’s a self-regulated group of websites that give you the power to monitor and control your online privacy.
“The Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) establishes and enforces responsible privacy practices across [the] industry for relevant digital advertising, providing consumers with enhanced transparency and control.” That’s according to the DAA website.
You can tell companies like Facebook that you want to opt out of them collecting cookies to track you. It’s easy, too.
You go the Digital Advertising Alliance website. Click here to get to the DAA site.
Once there, you can opt out of specific websites from tracking you. You can either opt out of a few sites by putting a check mark in the box under the Opt Out? column for each site. Or, if you don’t want any of the DAA participating websites tracking you, click on the Opt Out of All tab. See red arrow below.
Note: If you use multiple browsers, like Chrome and Firefox, you will only need to opt out of Facebook once. However, for other sites, you will have to visit each browser to opt out.
Here’s What You Must Know
By opting out of receiving interest-based advertising, you will prevent Facebook and other sites from using cookies to track you. However, you will still see ads on Facebook and other sites. They will be generic ads that are not targeting your personal interests.
Plus, websites will still be able to track you. They will just be limited in how they can use the information they gather about you.
According to the DAA:
- You may still receive other types of online advertising from participating companies, and these companies may still collect information for other purposes consistent with the DAA Principles.
Speaking of Facebook annoyances, I’ll tell you how you can temporarily snooze friends’ posts in your feed
Is your Facebook friend sharing one too many photos of her brand new puppy, or bragging about the vacation she just took? You don’t want to unfriend her, but you’d rather not see all of her posts. Facebook’s newest feature acts as a snooze button for these common annoyances.
See how this new tool will make Facebook better by clicking here.
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