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Facebook Privacy The Internet

Facebook Promises Privacy Tool 'Clear History' (cnet.com) 77

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
Facebook is introducing a new privacy tool called "clear history," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday with a personal Facebook post. From a report: The tool will allow you to see information about the apps and websites you've interacted with, and you'll be able to clear this information from your account. The news came less within hours of the kickoff keynote at on Facebook's F8 developer conference, which is being held in San Jose. The mostly-annual conference began as a time for Facebook to announce major initiatives, such as its technology to connect user's accounts with websites around the web, as well as revamped designs for user's profile pages. In a statement, Zuckerberg said, "In your web browser, you have a simple way to clear your cookies and history. The idea is a lot of sites need cookies to work, but you should still be able to flush your history whenever you want. We're building a version of this for Facebook too. It will be a simple control to clear your browsing history on Facebook -- what you've clicked on, websites you've visited, and so on."
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Facebook Promises Privacy Tool 'Clear History' More

Facebook Promises Privacy Tool 'Clear History'

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  • You know, all the shit we track about you that's really none of our business. Yeah, that stuff.
  • I'm assuming they only have the ability to clear browser cookies belonging to facebook-related domains.

  • Does anyone actually believe this is real? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Rick Schumann ( 4662797 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2018 @11:52AM (#56536591) Journal
    Know how every elevator has 'Door Close' button? That doesn't seem to actually be connected to anything, and therefore does nothing? That's what I think this will be: it'll clear what you and others can see, but not a single byte of what Facebook stores.

    • Re:Does anyone actually believe this is real? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01, 2018 @12:06PM (#56536655)

      You have to keep pressing the button until the door closes.

      • But the door closes by itself after the exact same amount of time as holding the button. I've never seen it actually close the door any faster than just waiting.

        • The button does serve a purpose when the fire key is inserted.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Depends on the elevator and how it is configured. For some it makes no difference at all. For others it does. The one at my workplace closes several seconds faster if you press the button than if you don't.

        • But the door closes by itself

          THIS is REAL; it is *how* you press the button. Follow these steps:

          1. Aim for the button.
          2. STOP! Right before the tip of your finger touches the button, you FREEZE.
          3. Turn your head around to look at the passenger(s).
          4. Wait for the doors to close automatically.
          5. Put on your sunglasses (optional)

          Try not to shake your head when the doors open.

    • Totally off topic, but depending on the make/model of the elevator system the Door Close button is functional for various service modes like firefighter service, attendant service, inspection service, etc.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

      Know how every elevator has 'Door Close' button? That doesn't seem to actually be connected to anything, and therefore does nothing?

      Is that anything like those bacon machines in the bathroom that always seem to be broken?

      • You have to actually put your mouth to the tube for it to work. I thought this was a tech site!

      • You misunderstand; they're not broken, just out of bacon. See, they cook the bacon up fresh whenever you press the button, so when it's out of bacon all you get is a blast of hot air. Since bacon is so universally popular, it's almost impossible to keep the machine stocked with bacon. What you need to do is camp out and wait for the maintenance person to service the restroom, which is when it's restocked with fresh bacon, and get yours right away. Sometimes they forget, though, so you'd better follow the gu

  • nope (Score:3)

    by Virtucon ( 127420 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2018 @11:59AM (#56536617)

    It doesn't go far enough. Facebook, Intellius et al. need to be prohibited from collecting any data from anyone without an opt-in and controls as to what
    they can collect and when.

    Sorry, fuck off Zuck

  • Will a tracking cookie be needed... (Score:3)

    by QuietLagoon ( 813062 ) on Tuesday May 01, 2018 @11:59AM (#56536619)
    ... in order for Facebook to track who does not want to be tracked?

  • All your data has already been copied a thousand times to other companies. I doubt Facebook will be forcing them to delete their copies too.

    • Even if it clears the current history pile, it then carries right on collecting a new one from the very next click. You are still uniquely identified and have more-or-less proven yourself a human being rather than some robot account: you may have actually increased the value of the new history.

  • So Facebook says they now have a new tool. What happened? Did they somehow figure out a way to replace Zuckerberg?

  • Not sure who to believe.

  • It will be just like deleting your browser history on your LOCAL computer or what is visible in your account. It won't do shit about the data Facebook has stored about you. That will never get deleted because that is what Facebook uses to make money.

    Basically nothing to see here. Move along.

  • Facebook is a day late and a dollar short! I am now 6 months free from Facebook and I will not be looking back ... ever.

  • All they care about is the metadata, and they already stored that.

    This won't delete that.

    Still a violation of Canadian Constitutional Right of Privacy and EU Right of Privacy, and FB knows that, which is why they have different platforms there.

  • We have an expression for when you do things like take security measures after a security breech. It's "closing the door after the horse has bolted." Also, in Facebookese, "clear" probably doesn't mean "delete" either. More likely means "hide it from you but available to anyone else who pays for it."

  • About time we get Faceblock!

  • Why should I believe that anything gets deleted at all? For all I know it could (and judging from Facebook's history would) just be hidden from view. For the user, of course, not to Facebook.

    Sorry. There is nothing, literally nothing this company can do to convince anyone that they are anything but a privacy invasion.

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