Facebook’s ‘clear history’ feature delayed in U.S. over sex-trafficking case

Facebook’s long-delayed “clear history” feature hit a road bump in the United States over concerns about sex trafficking. 

The decision to block the tool was made by Texas District Court Judge Tanya Garrison, reports Bloomberg, delaying the U.S. release until at least Aug. 30, 2019. It’s at the request of a woman who is currently suing Facebook for failing to prevent sex traffickers from taking advantage of her while she was a teenager. 

The Off-Facebook Activity feature, which rolls out first in Spain, Ireland, and South Korea, will allow users to see what visited websites share browsing data with Facebook and allow users to “disconnect” that shared data from their Facebook account. One big change for users who enact the feature will be fewer of some targeted ads.

Attorneys for the woman say that Facebook has yet to turn over requested data related to the man accused of sex trafficking and the feature would allow him to clear his personal data, making it virtually impossible to prosecute him for the crime. 

For its part, Facebook told Bloomberg it doesn’t allow human trafficking on its platform and said the judge’s decision to delay is a bad thing.

“Off-Facebook Activity is an industry-leading tool that we designed to provide people with more control over their data. Although we have not yet launched it in the United States, we believe this order — which purports to temporarily prohibit us from launching the tool in the United States — undermines user privacy and is entirely without basis.”

This, of course, assumes that the feature actually does anything other than piss off advertisers and, so far, it doesn’t appear as if that will be the case. While it will allow users to “disconnect” Facebook from tracking their off-platform history, it does nothing to clear your data from Facebook’s servers or keep them from using that data however they see fit. 

It’s worth noting that, as Bloomberg points out, this is the first case under a new exemption added to the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 of that act protects websites and online platforms from being held accountable for what users post (i.e., a restaurant can’t sue Yelp! because you post a mean review on there). 

But in 2018, President Trump signed into law the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act which will hold those platforms liable for allowing ads related to sex work, even if it’s consensual. The law has itself been subject to a lot of debate over the implications the bill could have on the internet beyond just sex trafficking.