Facebook, here is the new useful tool to manage privacy and third-party apps: what it is and how to use it

Announced by Mark Zuckerberg in person, the new tool to manage or disconnect activities with third-party companies on Facebook promises a revolution in the management of privacy on the social network par excellence. The news has been introduced within a completely new section in the Service Settings, and allows you to see and manage in a capillary way which third-party companies shared data with Facebook.

The new section is called "Activities outside Facebook" and, as described, allows you to view or disconnect the activities performed in companies and organizations that are visited outside of Facebook. In this case, third-party companies can share information and data on user activities with Facebook, for example when the same users visit their apps by logging in through the Facebook account or in other specific cases.

Activities outside Facebook: how the social network collects data

The lists of customers that companies use to show relevant and dedicated listings are not shared, e all data collected by the social network are used to improve the user experience of the service, show relevant advertisements within it and allow non-invasive activities for user privacy. In addition, companies that use Facebook's log-in service should always show a disclaimer in which highlighting data sharing with the social network.

How does Facebook use this data on activities from third-party apps collected? The same company explains it in the app: a user purchases a product from an online store where he has accessed via Facebook. The shop shares the business with Facebook in a generic way, so Facebook knows the user's interest in that product category. Thanks to this data, Facebook can offer dedicated discounts in the future, offering targeted advertising which the user is potentially interested in.

A tool to delete all the activities carried out outside of Facebook

Not everyone wants their interests to be made available to Facebook, which is why the social network has introduced the news. The new tool allows you to disconnect all activities with the press of a single button, even from smartphones, or to establish which ones to disconnect on the basis of all the activities carried out outside the social network previously. You can also simply take a look at the list of activities and, even more interesting, you can decide how to manage all future activities.

The tool was announced at the F8 annual conference in 2018, precisely following the outbreak of the Cambridge Analytica case in which the management of user privacy by the social network was strongly questioned. Introduced in some countries after months of delay due to technical problems, the tool finally available also in Italy.

How to use the Activity tool outside of Facebook via smartphone

To access the tool via smartphone you need:

• access the Settings Facebook through the tab on the main screen marked by the three horizontal lines
• press on Settings and privacy and then on again Settings
• scroll down and press Activities outside of Facebook

Here you can manage activities outside of Facebook through a list of services that have shared data with the social network, disconnect the activities (one by one, or disconnect them all with the press of a single button), or through the Other options It is possible to manage future activities: for example, you can deactivate the possibility for third-party companies to share data with Facebook, or reactivate all previously deactivated activities.

How to use the Activity tool outside of Facebook via browser

Via browser the new option accessible in a similar way:

• access the Settings through the triangle pointing down at the top right, then press on Settings
• access the page Your information on Facebook, through the left column
• in the right column click on View, in the row for the entry Activities outside of Facebook

All the possibilities we have seen on smartphones are also present on the desktop, accessible in the right column entitled "Here's what you can do".