Facebook is facing flak from all quarters over the Cambridge Analytica scandal where it is accused of alleged harvesting and use of personal data of millions of users without their consent. The public outcry is so much that a campaign “Delete Facebook” has taken shape, where users are being urged to delete their Facebook account to protect their privacy.
But deleting the Facebook account is not as easy as it sounds. We are so much invested in into the social networking site that it now runs in our DNA. Leaving Facebook account means losing access to your family and friends on the social network, and all the other apps and service that uses FB id to login such as Instagram, Messenger and more.
Now, if you want to protect your privacy and limit Facebook or third-party apps from collecting personal data of yours there is a way around, which is easier then “deleting facebook”.
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How To Delete Your Facebook Data Without Deleting Account
Don’t use the Facebook login for Third-Party Apps
Stop signing in to third-party apps via Facebook credentials. Yes, these apps apparently tell facebook your activities, what you are your liking, to help them collect your personal data. These apps can be anything from games to the ones that let you add filters and frames to your photos and more.
Disable FB ID from already signed in Third-party Apps/Sites
The second way to protect Facebook data breach to permanently disable your Facebook integration with third-party apps. However, this will add more work the next time you have to log in to third-party apps (you will have to create a new account instead of going for an easy facebook login option), but it is good for privacy.
To do this, head over to Facebook’s Settings, followed by Apps in the left column. Scroll down and click on the Edit option on Apps, Web sites and Plug-ins box and select Disable Platform. This will disable all your facebook id from every third-party service.
You can also selectively disintegrate some apps from Facebook while keeping only the important ones connected to your id. On the App page, you will have a list of all the apps that are using your Facebook account. Just hover over each app and you will see ‘X’ appear on the right corner of these apps, click on it.
Control apps and websites from accessing your information
The third way to safeguard your private data is to control websites and apps from accessing your private information. The information includes your bio, birthday, posts on your timeline, education and work, app activity, current location, hometown, family and relationship, and more.
To control what data you want to share, Go to Settings on Facebook, click on Apps, and select Apps others use. Here, you can untick the boxes depending on the data that you don’t want to share with others.
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Disable ad settings
One of the ways how Facebook make its earning is by selling ads to you based on your interest. That interest is formed through the websites you are visiting or products you are looking for.
To disable it, jump to Facebook’s Settings, followed by Ads on the left column and then click on Ad settings. From here you can control whether you want to see internet based ads or not.
Delete Your Facebook Data Without Deleting Facebook Account
So these are some of the steps you can use to protect your privacy on Facebook. Mind you, your data will still be collected by Facebook, but you could limit the access to it. According to me, the solution is far better than permanently discontinuing from the service.
