Maybe you “Liked” something four years ago that embarrasses you now. Maybe you looked up an ex (or three). Maybe it’s none of anyone’s damn business.
And maybe Facebook finally agrees.
On Tuesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced (on Facebook, natch) “Clear History,” a privacy control tool that can clear your browsing history. It comes less than a month after Congressional hearings targeted the social-media site for its lack of transparency and privacy control.
At launch, the tool will concentrate on websites and apps that use Facebook’s ads and analytics tools. You’ll also able to see the info on those sites with which you’ve interacted, and turn off the ability for Facebook to use this info in the future.
Of course, Zuckerberg offer up a caveat: “To be clear, when you clear your cookies in your browser, it can make parts of your experience worse. You may have to sign back in to every website, and you may have to reconfigure things. The same will be true here. Your Facebook won’t be as good while it relearns your preferences.” So if you’ve previously used the site to log into an app, you might have to do the process all over again.
According to Facebook’s VP/Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan, Clear History should take a few months to roll out.
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