What Businesses Should Know About the Upcoming Tool for Managing Off-Facebook Activity

Facebook Business

May 14, 2019

In the coming months, we'll begin rolling out a tool that lets people see and manage their off-Facebook activity. Mark Zuckerberg announced this feature last year, and it's designed to give people more transparency and control over the data other apps and websites share with us. This will include a list of the apps and websites someone visits that use our business tools such as the Facebook pixel, SDK and API. We've had conversations along the way with businesses, agencies and industry bodies to get a sense of things advertisers will want to know in preparation, and we put together a list of four important points for you to keep in mind as the feature rolls out.

1. Giving people transparency and control is good for businesses. When people are informed about how their information is used, it improves the way they feel about ads and the businesses they interact with online. Ads are how we keep Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp free for people to use. The same is true for many online services. It's important to understand that advertising and protecting people's information are not at odds—we can do both. We hope companies across the industry can work together on the best approaches for people.
2. We're showing people how advertisers use our tools. A big component of this feature is helping people understand how advertisers use our business tools. We're working hard to deliver this transparency on Facebook, and we also with other businesses about approaches they may take to help people further understand what data they share, and the value of that sharing. We encourage businesses to start thinking about ways to educate their customers about their marketing practices.
3. This feature may impact targeting. When someone disconnects their off-Facebook activity, we won't use the data they clear for targeting. This means that targeting options powered by Facebook's business tools, like the Facebook pixel, can't be used to reach someone with ads. This includes Custom Audiences built from visitors to websites or apps. Businesses should keep this in mind when developing strategies for these kinds of campaigns in the second half of the year and beyond.
4. Measurement will remain intact. Facebook's measurement and analytics tools have been carefully designed to protect people's identity. We never share anyone's personal information, such as names or phone numbers, in our measurement and reporting tools. And we don't anticipate changes to measurement once this feature is live. We will still be able to provide accurate measurement to help businesses understand the impact of their Facebook investment, while honoring people's choice to exercise control over their off-Facebook activity.

We believe that offering people greater transparency and control will ultimately have a positive, long-term effect on businesses using Facebook.

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