Digital Smarts - Facebook – Your New No Opt-Out Shopping Buddy
You are here
Facebook is now tracking which stores you visit so the giant social network can show marketers that its online ads result in offline purchases. With data tracking ads, businesses that advertise on Facebook can include an interactive map detailing the locations of their stores. The Facebook users' phones are then used to track (by GPS, beacons, WiFi, radio signals, and cell towers) how many of those who saw the ad wound up visiting the store. Facebook is also working on tying in-store purchases to their ads through tracking.
How can you protect your privacy? While Facebook will not report specific information such as the ad you saw on your friend’s Facebook page was the thing that brought you into the store where you purchased a yellow polka dot bikini, there is no way to opt out. Facebook does not identify individual information, and the information they collect is all anonymous and aggregated – or so they say officially. All you can do is hide particular ads you see in your feed, or turn off location services for Facebook entirely, though doing so may degrade other Facebook functions.