Maybe you knew this or maybe not, but under Facebook ad preferences you’ll see a list of traits and interests the platform associates with you (via Pew Research Center).
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Facebook Ad Preferences
These traits and interests of course are there for targeted advertising. Pew found that 74% of Facebook users weren’t aware of this. 59% of users say the categories accurately reflect them, while 27% say it isn’t accurate. 51% of users also found Facebook assigned them a political affinity.
Dan Goldstein, president and owner of Page 1 solutions, a digital marketing agency, commented:
Ultimately, Facebook users bear a responsibility as well: It is up to them to educate themselves on how the social network uses their data for advertising. It is troubling to me that three-fourths of the surveyed users did not know that Facebook gathers their data and categorizes their interests for use in the ad network.
![screenshot of Facebook ad preferences](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Facebook-ad-preferences.png)
You can change your Facebook ad preferences and interests, but whether it actually removes them or it’s just a placebo is unknown.
[How to Take Control of Your Facebook Privacy Settings]
Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash