Step-by-Step Privacy Hardening Guide to Protect Yourself From Facebook (Meta) Tracking on Desktop and Mobile

Here’s a comprehensive, step-by-step privacy hardening guide to protect yourself from Facebook (Meta) tracking on desktop and mobile.

BASIC (Everyone Should Do This)

* On Desktop *

Log into Facebook

Go to Settings & Privacy → Settings → Your Facebook Information → Off-Facebook Activity

Click “Manage Your Off-Facebook Activity.”

* Then:

Clear History

Manage Future Activity → Turn Off Future Off-Facebook Activity

Turn off background data for Facebook in browser privacy settings.

* Adjust Ad Preferences *

Settings → Ads → Ad Settings

* Turn off:

Ads based on data from partners

Ads based on your activity on Facebook Company Products that you see elsewhere

Ads that include your social actions

Use “Facebook Container” (Firefox only)

* Advanced Browser Add-ons *

Decentraleyes → Blocks tracking scripts from CDNs.

NoScript (for advanced users) → Blocks all scripts except those you explicitly allow.

Cookie AutoDelete → Clears cookies after each session.

Optional: Use Privacy-Focused OS or Services

Email: ProtonMail, Tutanota

Search: DuckDuckGo, Brave Search

Messaging: Signal

VPN: Mullvad, ProtonVPN, IVPN

Ongoing Habits

Review Facebook settings monthly — they sometimes reset options.

Periodically clear browsing data & cookies.

Be skeptical of “Login with Facebook” buttons.

Avoid connecting Instagram/WhatsApp accounts to Facebook if privacy is a priority.