Facebook’s mobile application has already added a function that can even make life easier for some users. However, serving the user is not the ultimate purpose of the feature.
A new function is coming to the Facebook application. Adobe Stock
- The link history function of the Facebook application keeps a record of the sites the user has visited.
- Previously, the page history of the in-app browser has not been seen anywhere.
- The function can be deactivated, in which case no data is collected.
Unlike the phone’s own browser, Facebook’s internal web browser does not have a page history through which you can view previously visited pages. Until now, the links opened via the mobile application have not been saved anywhere.
This could have been annoying, for example, in cases where the user tries to recall a site that he ended up on by tapping on a news article shared on Facebook or, for example, an advertisement.
In the past, the user’s means of finding out the site he had previously visited were practically non-existent, unless he liked the publication in question or opened the web page in the system’s own browser instead of the Facebook browser.
Link history enabled
However, this is about to change soon, as Facebook has already launched the link history function for some users.
The link history works in much the same way as the page history of a standard web browser, i.e. it stores the sites you have visited using the internal browser of the Facebook mobile application.
Facebook support pages according to the link history, the sites visited in the browser of the mobile version of Facebook are kept for 30 days.
“We may use…”
As is often the case with social media giants, this change is fundamentally about something other than serving users.
– When the link history is enabled, we may use the link history data of Facebook’s mobile browser to improve the ads shown to you in Meta technologies, the support pages point out.
Link history is on by default, but you can disable it if you want, if you don’t want Meta to collect data about your visits for targeting ads.
The feature is not yet available to everyone, but according to Meta, it is being gradually introduced to users. You will be told about the activation of the link history with a notification inside the Facebook mobile application.
The story continues below the picture.
In addition to Facebook, social giant Meta also owns Instagram, Whatsapp and Threads. Adobe Stock
Gizmodo: Meta has been gathering information for a long time
The one who reported on the link history function Gizmodo points out in his article that even though Meta makes it clear that it is transparent about the tracking it does, it has been collecting data on the use of the in-app browser until now – it just hasn’t told about it, and there hasn’t been an option to refuse the collection of data.
Meta doesn’t offer a new function for its goodness sake.
The digital market regulations of the European Union and the stricter privacy requirements of Apple and Google have forced Meta to be more open about the data it collects. Meta has had to offer users the opportunity to surf on their platforms without data being collected.
For Facebook and Instagram, the solution has been to get rid of ads with a monthly payment option, while the new Threads platform allows the user to browse content without logging in. In these cases, Meta does not collect data about you for targeted advertising.