If you don’t like the idea of Instagram tracking your activity across other apps and websites, you’ll be glad to hear that you can finally put a stop to it. Meta now allows you to change settings in Account Center that prevent third-party tracking commonly used to show you personalized ads on the platform.
You Can Finally Stop Instagram Tracking Your Online Activity
Meta has revamped the Accounts Center, allowing users to manage and prevent activity tracking across other apps and websites. Previously, you could only do this for Facebook accounts using a control called off-Facebook activity. Now, you can stop both platforms tracking your activity with this control, which is now called Activity Off-Meta Technologies.
As Meta explained in a statement, Activity Off-Meta Technologies allows you to manage how other businesses send to the platforms. You can review which businesses are sending information, what kind of activity they’re tracking, and block specific businesses from sending your data.
Alternatively, you can stop all third-party companies sending your data and clear any previous data Meta has access to. Practically speaking, this will stop Instagram from using your activity on third-party sites to show you personalized ads. For example, you’ll no longer see Instagram ads for a product you’ve just viewed on a website.
It only takes a matter of seconds to stop Instagram tracking your activity on other apps and websites. The settings are a little buried, though, so here’s a quick step-by-step to save you some time.
1. Open the Accounts Center on Instagram
The off-Meta technologies settings are tucked away in the Accounts Center. To open the Accounts Center on the Instagram app, follow these steps:
- Open the Instagram app and tap the profile icon at the bottom-right of your home feed.
- Tap the three-line settings icon at the top-right of your profile page.
- Select Settings and privacy from the pop-up menu.
- Tap Accounts Center under the Your account section of Settings and privacy.
From the Accounts Center, you can access the off-Meta technologies settings by selecting Your information and permissions > Your activity off Meta technologies.
3. Select Disconnect Future Activity
From the Your information and permissions page, you can stop Instagram tracking your activity on other apps and sites with the following steps:
- Tap Manage future activity.
- Select Disconnect future activity.
- Read the What you should know info.
- Tap the Disconnect future activity button.
Meta is legally obliged to provide information about how it uses your personal data, including what any changes to settings will do. The "What you should know" section mostly explains how long it will take for settings to take effect and what you can expect to change:
There are a few things to keep in mind:
- Disconnecting future activity will apply to all accounts linked in the Accounts Center.
- It may take up to 48 hours for tracking to fully disconnect.
- You might be logged out of any apps and websites that you logged into using Facebook.
- If you've connected your Instagram account to other apps and websites, disconnecting future activity may disconnect them.
- Meta will still receive activity from apps and websites, but it will be disconnected from your account.
- You’ll see the same amount of ads, but they won't be personalized.
The only detail that might raise some privacy-conscious eyebrows is that Instagram will still receive activity data from apps and websites. Meta hasn’t elaborated on whether it still receives all or some of the same activity, but its wording does at least suggest any data it receives is anonymized.
If you would rather simply adjust the types of ads you see, you can tweak your Instagram ad interests.
Get Greater Control Over Instagram Tracking
The disconnect feature gives you more control over how Instagram and businesses exchange your personal data, finally providing a way to get rid of off-site tracking.
- Social Media
- Security
Your changes have been saved
Email is sent
Email has already been sent
Please verify your email address.
You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.
Manage Your List
Follow
Followed
Follow with Notifications
Follow
Unfollow
Readers like you help support MakeUseOf. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read More.
)
