Meta Uses Your Purchases and Games on Third-Party Sites to Personalize Feeds and AI: Coming This July in the USA

Meta has announced a significant expansion in how it leverages data collected outside of its own platforms. Until now, users' off-platform activities, such as purchases and games made on third-party websites and apps, were used solely for profiling advertising. Starting next July, this same activity will also feed into the personalization of Facebook and Instagram feeds and the responses of Meta AI.

The company's official statement exemplifies the mechanism: "If you've recently purchased a tent online, you might see more Reels related to camping." The principle is already known for ads, now applied to what users see scrolling through their organic feed. The same logic is extended to the AI assistant, whose responses will be contextualized based on activities recorded on external platforms.

Meta clarifies that the company is not "collecting any data as part of the update," stating that it is simply a change in the use of information already present in its systems, shared by third-party companies through Meta's APIs, for example when an e-commerce site transmits purchase events or a gaming platform transmits usage sessions. The same companies can also share customer lists, such as newsletter subscribers, who then receive relevant content and ads.

User Control and Excluded Markets

On the user control front, Meta also announces a review of existing settings. The current option "Your activity off Meta technologies" will be suspended and replaced by a new setting called "Activity from other businesses," which unifies the personalization of ads and feed content. Users will be able to disable this usage directly from their account settings.

The rollout will begin in July 2026 in the United States and other countries, but will initially exclude a significant group of markets: the European Union, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Thailand, South Africa, Turkey, South Korea, Ecuador, Nigeria, and Kenya. For Europe, the explanation is implicit in the current regulatory framework: the GDPR and decisions from data protection authorities have previously restricted Meta's ability to use behavioral data for advertising, making immediate launch legally problematic.

This is not the first time Meta has expanded the use of personal data within the AI ecosystem: the company had previously started using conversations with its assistant to personalize ads the year before. The June announcement represents a further step in the same direction, extending the usage surface beyond the advertising circuit in the strict sense.