Deleting or deactivating Facebook isn’t an option for everyone — you may not want to give up staying in touch with family and friends or participating in support groups.
The hashtag #DeleteFacebook was trending on Twitter in wake of the news. WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton tweeted “it is time” to delete Facebook.
While deleting Facebook seems like an obvious option, there are other things you can do to protect your information.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to better control what’s shared on Facebook:
How to stop Facebook from sharing your data
You may be surprised how many apps like Airbnb, Tinder or Venmo you’ve logged into through the social network over the years. Services make it easy to log in with Facebook rather than requiring a separate username and password.
Users may not realize how much of their personal data those third-party apps gain access to.
Steps to remove services using web
- Go to Facebook’s App Page.
- Under the Settings menu to see how many apps you have connected to your account.
- Select which services you want to remove at the top of the page.
- You can also disable all of them via Apps, Website and Plugins > Edit.
Steps to remove services using mobile app
1. Open the Facebook app on your phone, hit that three line button and and go to settings.
2. Tap on account settings.
3. Scroll down to Apps, and that’s where you can see all the apps that are logged in with your Facebook account.
4. To remove the Apps from your Facebook account, scroll to the bottom and click remove app for every app.
However, you won’t be able to log into apps like Instagram or Spotify using your Facebook account anymore. Instead, you’ll need to sign up for the service directly with a unique log in.
Keep in mind apps you’ve already installed could still have your shared information even after disabling the feature. You’ll have to contact the app individually and ask for your data to be removed. Facebook doesn’t give instructions on how to best reach out to the app.
People on Facebook who can see your information can bring it with them when they use apps such as games.
By selecting Settings > Apps > Apps Others Use, uncheck the boxes you don’t want those apps to access, such as your birthday, hometown, and political views.
