If you've ever browsed wedding dresses online (looking for a friend), you know that means your Facebook will be filled with advertisements for engagement rings, floral companies and even honeymoon destinations for the next century or so. It's the beauty of their targeted ads. And now, Facebook is planning on expanding this strategy beyond their social platforms to the rest of the Internet — with the help of your personal data.
Of course, the right thing for Facebook to do is offer a privacy setting so people can deny the use of their behavioral info, which they do. Except when they added the privacy setting this week, they set the default to opt everyone in. That means, if you don't want Facebook to collect and use your info for ads outside of their platforms, you need to change your settings now.
To do this, click the lock button in the top-right corner of your screen and select "See more settings."
Then, on the left-hand side of the screen, click on "Ads" near the bottom.
The new setting you were signed up for this week is located under the "Ads on apps and websites off of the Facebook Companies" section. Just switch the "yes" to "no" to opt out and you're all set.
However, you should know that you can't opt out of advertisements on Facebook or having your data collected. This setting will simply make sure your ads aren't targeted to your interests on sites that aren't Facebook. So hopefully those white dresses won't be following you around on every site you visit until the end of time.
[h/t Consumerist
Lauren is a senior editor at Hearst. She was previously the senior editor at WomansDay.com and the home editor at GoodHousekeeping.com and HouseBeautiful.com. Her book club, ramen, and jean jackets are a few of her favorite things.
