5 Privacy Settings to Change on Social Media Now
Social media tracking rarely ends inside the app. What you browse elsewhere, which ads you pause on, and which sites send data back can all shape the profile built around you. Meta lets users manage “future activity off Meta technologies,” TikTok offers controls for “off-TikTok data,” and Apple’s App Tracking Transparency gives iPhone and iPad users a device-level way to refuse cross-app tracking.
The good news is that privacy does not have to begin with deleting everything. More often, it begins with a few quiet settings — small adjustments that reduce how much of your behavior is allowed to travel. These are five worth changing first.
#1 Turn off app tracking on your iPhone or iPad
If you use an iPhone or iPad, start here. Apple requires apps to ask permission before tracking your activity across other companies’ apps and websites. If you choose Ask App Not to Track, the app cannot access your advertising identifier and is not permitted to track you using other identifying information such as your email address. You can also stop apps from asking altogether in Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking by turning off Allow Apps to Request to Track.
It is one of the cleanest privacy wins available because it works at the device level, before any single social app gets to make its case.
#2 Disconnect your off-platform activity from Meta
Meta’s ad system is not built only from what you do on Facebook or Instagram. Businesses and organizations can share information about your interactions with them, which Meta groups under activity off Meta technologies. Meta says you can review this activity and turn off future activity off Meta technologies in Accounts Center.
This setting matters because it narrows how much of your wider browsing life is used to shape what follows you back into Instagram or Facebook. It will not make ads disappear, but it can make them feel a little less informed.
#3 Clear and limit TikTok’s off-app ad data
TikTok offers similar controls. Its support pages say you can turn Targeted ads on or off, disconnect advertisers, and clear your off-TikTok activity in the app’s Settings and privacy > Ads menu. TikTok also notes that you will still see ads, but these settings reduce how activity outside TikTok is used for ad targeting.
This is worth changing if TikTok feels unusually good at finding you everywhere else. In many cases, it is not intuition — it is data sharing.
#4 Block third-party COOKIES IN YOUR BROWSER
A large share of tracking happens through the web itself. Google says Chrome lets users block third-party cookies under Settings > Privacy and security > Third-party cookies. Mozilla goes further: Firefox’s Enhanced Tracking Protection blocks social media trackers, cross-site tracking cookies, fingerprinters, and other tracking content by default, with stricter options available.
This is one of the more effective changes because it reaches beyond any single platform. Social media apps are only part of the tracking story; the browser is where much of the rest happens.
#5 Recheck your location and photo permissions
Some of the most revealing data is not what you post, but what you allow apps to access in the background. Apple says apps must ask permission before using your location, photos, contacts, camera, or microphone, and you can later change those permissions in Settings. Apple also allows users to share approximate rather than precise location for apps that do not need exact positioning.
That means a social app does not always need to know exactly where you are, or have broad access to your photo library, simply because it asked once. Less access usually means less data to work with.
A more private way to use social media