Facebook to Add a “Clear History” Feature

Clear History will roll out in the next months.

Mark Zuckerberg has revealed a few interesting new features yesterday at Facebook’s F8 conference. One of those features relates directly to user privacy and ads. We’re talking about the upcoming Clear History function. This tool will completely remove all records of everything that a user has clicked, including ads. The best part is that you will also be able to tell Facebook to stop collecting data altogether. In Mark’s own words, the cleanup process would be similar to clearing out cookies and history from a browser.

“Once we roll out this update, you’ll be able to see information about the apps and websites you’ve interacted with, and you’ll be able to clear this information from your account. You’ll even be able to turn off having this information stored with your account.”

There’s a small catch, though.

As nice as it sounds, it looks like the company won’t actually delete the data completely. Facebook VP and Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan clarified that the data simply won’t link to any specific account anymore.

“Apps and websites that use features such as the Like button or Facebook Analytics send us information to make their content and ads better. We also use this information to make your experience on Facebook better. We’ll work with privacy advocates, academics, policymakers and regulators to get their input on our approach, including how we plan to remove identifying information and the rare cases where we need information for security purposes.”

Obviously, the Clear History tool comes in the wake of the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal. However, Zuckerberg warns that Facebook will not “be as good” after you clear the data. That’s because the social network needs to relearn your preferences all over again.

Will you make use of this new Clear History tool once it rolls out?