Facebook will allow users to opt out of letting Facebook collect their browsing history

Facebook users will soon be able to opt out of one of Facebook’s key data gathering practices: Its collection and use of people’s web browsing history, which the company uses to sell targeted ads. As part of an upcoming feature called “clear history,” users can delete their browsing data from Facebook‘s servers, or ask the company not to collect it to begin with. Your browsing data could still be retained in an anonymous, aggregated set for companies that use Facebook for analytics purposes, but it wouldn’t be tied to your profile or used for targeting, a spokesperson confirmed. If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can’t opt out of this data collection. If you choose to simply delete the data instead of opting out entirely, it won’t be deleted instantaneously. Facebook will still retain that information for a short time after you instruct the company to delete it. But it will be a much shorter amount of time than the company currently holds onto that data, which is 90 days.