Soon, you'll be able to clear websites visited on Facebook
After a flurry of scandals and data leaks, Facebook has been working hard to rebuild user trust across the globe. The company has rolled a number of changes, and now, as part of the same effort, it is building a tool that would let you clear everything you have interacted with on the platform. Here's how it would work.
Clear History: A way to clean Facebook
After the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal, users raised concerns over the amount of data the Facebook mines to target them with ads. Even CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that he didn't "have clear enough answers to some of the questions about data". But, he promised to address all issues with proper controls, starting with 'Clear History', a way to clear what you've clicked on Facebook.
What you could do with this tool
Facebook offers options to clear activity like profile searches, but 'Clear History' is expected to go deeper. Zuckerberg had said last year it would be Facebook's version of clearing cookies, where most information from your interactions would be removed. "You'll be able to see information about the apps and websites you've interacted with, and you'll be able to clear this information from your account".
Plus, you might get options to turn off information collection
In the post describing the feature, Zuckerberg claimed that the 'Clear History' option might even allow users to turn off information collection altogether, which could be a major win for privacy advocates.
The feature might affect your Facebook experience
We haven't seen the feature in action, but Zuckerberg has claimed that it might even affect your experience of Facebook, just like clearing cookies would do on websites. "Your Facebook won't be as good while it relearns your preferences," he said while emphasizing that "after going through our systems, this is an example of the kind of control we think you should have."
When this tool will launch
Just recently, Facebook's CFO David Wehner told CNBC that 'Clear History' would be available later this year. This would be a big change for the company as it generates most of its revenue from ads delivered on the basis of online activity of users. As per Wehner, "It's going to give some headwinds in terms of being able to target as effectively as before".
