Meta is retiring the Off-Facebook Activity tool, one of the few controls that let users limit how the company ties third-party web data to their profiles.
The feature — introduced after the Cambridge Analytica fallout as a concession to regulators and users demanding more transparency — allowed people to see which apps and websites were sending their activity to Meta and to disconnect that data from their account. According to PCMag, it is "going away" in July, though the exact mechanism of removal has not been detailed in the single statement attributed to Meta. The company has not, per the source, spelled out whether the underlying data collection stops or just the user-facing controls do.
That distinction matters. If Meta retains the data pipeline and simply removes the dashboard, users lose visibility and opt-out capability without any reduction in actual tracking. Privacy tools — browser extensions, DNS-level blockers, and opting out of Meta's ad settings — remain available but require more technical effort than a built-in toggle.
Meta has spent years framing its privacy controls as proof of user agency; quietly sunsetting one of its most visible ones, with no announced replacement, reads less like a product decision and more like a policy retreat.