How to stop Facebook from spying on you without deleting your account

This Firefox extension allows you to keep your browsing habits separate from your Facebook use

Public trust in Facebook appears to be at an all-time low at the moment, so many users are considering deleting their accounts and not using the social network due to data protection concerns. They may not need to go to such an extreme measure, as Mozilla Firefox has created an excellent new web browser extension called Facebook Container that allows users to keep their browsing habits separate from their Facebook use.

Facebook Container does exactly what it says – it contains Facebook and stops it from using trackers and thus using your browsing data for targeted advertisements.

This will be welcomed by any of you who have ever tried to buy a secret present on a shared computer, as up until now, Facebook could use ad trackers to follow your online activity and personalize the ads you saw on your newsfeed.

Users of the extension keep their Facebook use entirely separate in an isolated blue-coloured tab.

Facebook Container Firefox extension
Facebook Container Firefox extension

Mozilla already block ad trackers in its private browsing mode, but the new Facebook Container is thought to be a far more convenient option.

It is decent alternative to completely deleting your account on the social network, although it is still advised that all users take a detailed look at their privacy settings.

This is just the latest in a series of developments which have seen Facebook users take their privacy more seriously in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Earlier this week, the social network was also criticized for saving extensive call and text data from Android phone owners who use their Messenger or Facebook Lite applications.

This came after Facebook was accused of not properly informing its users that their data had been obtained by a firm which was may have been a key element to Donald Trump’s election win.

So, all-in-all it hasn’t been a great few weeks for Mark Zuckerberg and his company, whose shares are down more than 15 percent from a high of $185 earlier this month.

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