Meta Drops Off-Platform Disconnect: Your Browsing Now Permanently Tie…

Meta has eliminated the ability for Facebook and Instagram users to disconnect their off-platform browsing and purchase data from their profiles, replacing it with a narrower control that lets users only restrict how the data is used, not whether it's linked. The change is rolling out across the US, UK, Brazil, Thailand, South Africa, Turkey, South Korea, Ecuador, Nigeria, and Kenya, with off-platform activity now feeding ad targeting, feed recommendations, and Meta AI responses. If you build privacy tools, consent layers, or cross-device identity for advertisers, Meta just removed a whole category of user choice—and proved the market will accept it. You're now selling reassurance in a world where the underlying opt-out is gone.