Goal updated its Account Center with a new feature that will allow disable Instagram tracking. Users who have a profile on the social network may prevent it from collecting data about our activity on the web and in other applications. With this, the technology giant will stop showing personalized ads in the feed.
The company published an entry on its blog detailing the changes coming to the Account Center. On the list is a very peculiar one that has been the object of discord among those who fight for the privacy of our data. Meta introduced an option called “Your activity outside of Meta technologies” that allows manage Instagram following.
“Your activity outside of Meta includes information that companies and organizations share with us about your interactions with them, such as visits to their applications or websites,” he mentions. The new feature provides access to your most recent activity, options to disconnect or handle future follow-upsas well as the possibility of deleting the data completely.
In recent months, the technology company has offered controls to modify the advertising that appears in your applications. The problem is that most of them are hidden or difficult to access to prevent you from changing them.
Meta uses a small piece of code known as Meta pixel, which is present on almost all the websites you visit. The role of the pixel is collect information about your activity, which is linked to an identifier to show you targeted ads.
When the Meta pixel is set up, it records every time an action is taken on your website, such as adding an item to cart or making a purchase. The pixel collects all of these actions, which are called events, and sends them to the Event Manager so you can view them. This tool shows the actions your clients execute. Plus, you’ll have the option to retarget those customers through future Facebook ads.
Goal
The company also spies on your behavior on other apps, which explains why you see so many ads from Amazon, Netflix, and other services in your news feed.
While Meta takes a step in the right direction, Disabling tracking doesn’t mean you’ll stop seeing ads on Instagram. Advertising revenue keeps Mark Zuckerberg and company going, so you won’t be getting rid of them anytime soon.
The launch of this function comes as response to a millionaire sanction against the company for forcing its users to accept personalized ads. At the beginning of the year, the Irish Data Protection Commission fined Meta €390 million for violating the GDPR. The technology company included consent to tracking within Facebook’s terms and conditions, so everyone accepted it by default.
The changes announced today not only include an option for Instagram to stop following us. The Meta Account Center now allows us to download all our data in a single file, as well as transfer our photos and videos to other services. Regarding the latter, Robert d’Apice, director of Product Management at Meta, stated that this is a great step forward in data portability.
Meta did not confirm which services we will be able to transfer our image library to, only mentioning an example that involved printing a photo album in a simple way.