How To Stop Facebook Advertisers From Tracking You

People Want To Know “How To Stop Facebook Advertisers From Tracking You”

Facebook privacy settings were complicated. It was not easy to stop Facebook advertisers from tracking you. Mark Zukerberg faced tough time over simplifying the privacy settings in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) raised the issue of expectations gap. Instagram spokesperson also announced last week that Instagram users would be able to download all their data soon.

Sen. Cory asked that if you log into Facebook and log into another article opening a new tab in the same browser, new tab or article has a Facebook button on it, you track the article that user is reading…is that correct? MZ replied “I think there is functionality like that.” (Watch below video from 1:20 min.)

Facebook Tracks Your Online Behavior:

You log into Facebook. You purchase or read anything in the same browser in another tab, Facebook tracks your behavior. Provided, there is a Like button on it.

If there is no such button then there must be a Facebook pixel embedded code on the website to track you. Probably, Facebook Pixel code is always embedded.

Sen. Cory further asked “do you think users understand that? Do you think…Facebook users know that Facebook now knows they are reading an article?” MZ replied “well we would need to have that in order to serve up that Like button…”

Sen. Cory asked MZ that You can close the expectation gap by simplifying the user agreement making sure that people understand the privacy settings.

Facebook has simplified the privacy settings acting upon it. To set your privacy settings according to your choice, Log into Desktop Facebook and Go to settings…

how to stop facebook advertisers from tracking you

Then Go To the tab of Ads (Desktop Settings>Ads) on the left side of your desktop page.

Once you click on Ads tab, you can see your ad preferences. There are different preferences. You can change the settings for each category under sub categories.

1. You’r Followed Based On Your Interests:

The first preference is based on your interests in Public Figures, Business and Industry, News and Entertainment, Sports and Outdoors, Hobbies and Activities and more.

Advertisers target you based on your interests. Now, You can keep certain pages with whom you want to remain connected and rest you can remove.

2. How To Stop Unwanted Advertisers From Tracking You:

You can check which advertiser has your contact info. Facebook advertisers upload their contact list to target their contacts.

Somehow they get your contact info from data brokers. You can remove the advertisers with whom you have never interacted, on the same desktop Facebook page (Settings>Ads).

3. You Are Targeted Based On Your Profile Info:

Some of the ads you see are because advertisers are trying to reach you based on the information you have provided on your profiles. You are targeted based on your relationship status, current Job you are having or based on your education etc.

If you don’t want to be followed or tracked based on your profile info, You can also turn off such settings here on the same page (Settings>Ads).

There are around 96 different categories in Facebook. Facebook puts your profile under such categories based on your device info and the information you provided.

You are targeted based on your network type, or mobile brand or their OS. You can remove yourself from each category one by one.

4. You are Influenced By Like Buttons:

MZ mentioned that they need to track your behavior through Like button. So that, your friends would know that what you are liking.

Let say, If you have liked a page of a clothing brand, your friends would see your name in the Like counts of such page. Once such clothing brand runs the advertisement then it can target your friends.

It is like an endorsement from your end to your friends for such clothing brand. May be, you do not want to share which brand page you are following and liking. You can turn it off here.

Why You Should Stop Facebook Advertisers From Tracking You Or Your Behavior?

Well, Your privacy is your concern at first place. We are living in a world where behavioral psychology can tell everything about a consumer.

Probably, your likes on products and shoppings online can tell your gender, your age and your color psychology even if you do not reveal it to the advertisers.

Consumer behavioral science has reached to such a level now. Advertisers offer hell lot of choices. You are bombarded with unwanted information. The more choices you have, the more you are vulnerable.

The author Barry Schwartz tells the consequences about a world full of choices in his book “The Paradox Of Choices”. It is an eye opening book. Once you read it, you realize that how your decisions are influenced by the giant advertisers. Why you are influenced?

You are perplexed in choosing medical plans, choosing beauty package, choosing health insurance, choosing education and choosing retirement plans.

You are choosing how to love and how to work as well. You do not want to have regrets in choosing any of these. And, you want endorsements to make good choices.

Endorsements from friends or people online with whom you are connected. Advertisers come into the role here. They offer you choices so that you shouldn’t have regrets.

To offer choices, they seek your personal informations. You want to avoid regrets so you rely upon the information of the advertisers unknowingly. Likewise, your decisions are influenced.

It is your call, you want to customize the Facebook privacy settings or you want to maintain the status quo! Still, Facebook will show ads to you. But, you can take control of your privacy online.

You can’t stop Facebook advertisers from tracking you completely. As, Facebook generates its maximum revenue from advertisers only.

But, you can close some gates of information based on demographics. Resulting this, the cost of the advertisements will go up. May be, not every advertiser would be in a situation to run ads on Facebook in future. What’d you say?

Siddharth Malkania

Siddharth Malkania is a journalism graduate from Indian Institute of Mass Communication. Having worked as a photojournalist for two years, he traveled to Tokyo, Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam to brush up his skills of photography. Currently, He is a professional photographer based in New Delhi, India.