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How Meta Uses Your Activity to Personalize Ads on Facebook and Instagram

Meta says it uses activity on its apps, information businesses share, connected-account data, and Meta AI interactions to personalize ads. Here’s what each source means and where to review the controls.
From TheFinanceBase Team4 min to read

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Meta says it personalizes ads using activity on Facebook and Instagram, information businesses send about actions on their websites and apps, activity across accounts linked in Accounts Center, and—since December 16, 2025—interactions with Meta AI. These are distinct sources of information, with separate controls; Meta’s settings and rollout can vary by country and account.

What activity can shape the ads you see?

Activity on Facebook and Instagram

Meta’s US privacy notice says it collects information about how people use its products, including the content they view or engage with, features they use, actions they take, accounts they interact with, and the timing, frequency, and duration of their activity. Meta says this information can help personalize ads. Meta’s US Regional Privacy Notice describes these practices for the United States; it should not be read as a definitive statement of every country’s rules or settings.

Meta says activity on and off its technologies may inform machine-learning models that shape and deliver ads. In a February 14, 2023 transparency announcement, updated September 17, 2026, Pedro Pavón, Meta’s Global Director of Ads and Monetization Privacy, described how “Information summarized into topics about how your activity both on and off our technologies — such as liking a post on a friend’s Facebook page or interacting with your favorite sports website — may inform the machine learning models we use to shape and deliver the ads you see.” Meta’s ad-transparency explanation also describes a tool that can show topics associated with why an ad was shown.

Activity businesses share with Meta

Businesses can send Meta information about actions people take on their websites and apps through integrations such as Meta Business Tools, social plugins, Facebook Login, APIs, and SDKs. Meta gives examples such as games played and purchases made on other websites. That is not the same as evidence that Meta necessarily sees every page someone visits: the cited sources describe information sent by businesses through specified tools and integrations. Meta’s US Regional Privacy Notice and its June 2026 announcement explain these channels.

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Activity across connected accounts

If Facebook and Instagram accounts are placed in the same Accounts Center, Meta says it may use information across them to personalize ads and other experiences. Joining accounts is optional. Meta’s Accounts Center help page explains the feature, and a January 2023 Meta announcement said preferences could be applied to individual accounts kept in separate Accounts Centers. The newer Meta Account rollout builds on Accounts Center, so navigation and wording may not be identical for everyone.

Interactions with Meta AI

Meta said it began using interactions with Meta AI—including text and voice interactions—to personalize recommendations, content, and ads on December 16, 2025. Meta also said it would not use conversations about listed topics such as religious views, sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs, and trade-union membership to show ads. This is Meta’s stated policy, not an independent audit, and the statement does not establish how every kind of information is used for every purpose. Meta’s announcement about AI-based personalization gives its explanation.

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What changed in Meta’s controls in 2026?

On June 9, 2026, Meta announced that a broader Activity from other businesses setting would govern the use of this partner-shared activity for ads and other personalized content. Meta said the update changes how it uses information businesses already send, rather than collecting new data, and that it would retire the separate Your activity off Meta technologies setting.

Meta said rollout would begin in the United States and some other countries in July 2026, then expand further. Its announcement does not establish which accounts or countries had migrated by October 4, 2026. Meta reported that it personalizes experiences for 3.5 billion people using its apps and services every day; that is a company-reported figure, not an independent measurement. See Meta’s June 2026 announcement for the company’s description.

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How to review the relevant settings

Meta names Ad Preferences and Accounts Center as places to manage ad and connected-account controls. For activity businesses share, look for Activity from other businesses. Labels and availability can differ by location and account as interfaces change, so search within your current app settings for the named control rather than relying on an older menu path.

  • Ad Preferences: Review available ad-related preferences, including topics associated with ads. A topic preference or hiding a particular advertiser is not a promise that all activity-based personalization will stop.
  • Accounts Center: Review which accounts are connected and the controls available for those accounts. This is the relevant place to check cross-account management.
  • Activity from other businesses: Review the expanded control for partner-shared activity where it is available. Its stated scope includes use for ads and other personalized content.

These controls address different sources or uses of information; changing one does not necessarily change the others. Meta’s US privacy notice describes location-dependent opt-out rights, while the June 2026 announcement describes the newer setting and rollout.

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Does ad personalization mean Meta is listening to conversations?

No conclusion about microphone use follows from receiving personalized ads. Meta says it uses a microphone only with permission and while someone actively uses a feature that requires it. That is Meta’s statement, not an independent audit of its systems. Meta’s Privacy Center explanation covers its position on microphone access.

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