Meta doesn’t just collect data about you on Facebook and Instagram. The platform harvests information about users from millions of other apps, websites, and services, which all send Meta reams of data to help target you with ads. Meta even receives details about what you do in the real world, away from your laptop or phone screen.
Some of that data is visible through the Activity Off Meta Technologies menu. It’s worth looking at just to see the sheer scale of Meta’s surveillance empire. You’ll find a Clear History button, which, despite the name, doesn’t actually delete anything. It “disconnects” the data from your account, preventing the company from using it for targeted ads. Meta keeps a copy though, and will continue to use it for analytics reports provided to other websites and advertising clients.
Even if you clear your history, Meta will keep getting new data from all the same sources. If you don’t like that, you can use a setting called Manage Future Activity to “clear” your history by default going forward. You can do that for all apps and sites, or just for specific ones.
On the Instagram app: Go to your profile by tapping the icon in the bottom right > Open the menu in the top right > Accounts Center > Your Information and Permissions > Your Activity off Meta Technologies.
From there, you can tap Clear Previous Activity. To prevent the data from being used for targeted ads going forward, tap Manage Future Activity > Disconnect Future Activity.
