Apple to stop Facebook tracking on iOS 12 as it happened | Tech News

Apple’s privacy controls just got a big boost with iOS 12. The tech giant (seriously… 67% of Americans have an Apple product) is going hard on Facebook’s data mining practices.

If you didn’t know about Facebook’s data mining practices, have a seat. Facebook tracks you around the web even when you’re logged out of it. It does this through a creepy little thing called Facebook Pixel, which is a transparent pixel that sits on web pages and reports back to Facebook which sites you’ve been to. On one hand, it’s a marketing person’s dream: you have unparalleled knowledge of your customers. For everyone else, it’s creepy. It bypasses traditional website cookies, so even if you have your browser privacy settings like Fort Knox there’s still plenty of ways for Facebook to know where you’ve been browsing. And since the Pixel is transparent, there’s very little way for you to know that you’re being tracked.

With Apple’s upcoming iOS 12, they plan to stop the tracking by notifying users about Facebook’s privacy overreach as it happens, in real time. A pop up will appear asking if you want Facebook to track you. One can imagine that this will be a full-blown option in the near future, after people a) realize how many sites are tracking them and b) get tired of constantly being asked if they want to be tracked. For too long we’ve allowed this to happen, and, quite frankly, it’s good that Apple is doing something about it.

If you’re still interested in knowing just how much Facebook knows about you, The Washington Post compiled a 98-point list of the categories that Facebook’s advertising overreach can put you in, based on the websites you visit and what you share on the site, and your “liking” history: