Facebook rolls out tool to block off-Facebook data gathering

Soon, you could get fewer familiar ads following you around the internet — or at least on Facebook.

Facebook is launching a long-promised tool that lets you limit what the social network can gather about you on outside websites and apps.

The company said it’s adding a section where you can see the activity that Facebook tracks outside its service via its "like" buttons and other means. You can choose to turn off the tracking; otherwise, tracking will continue the same way it has been.

Formerly known as "clear history," the tool will now go by the slightly clunkier moniker "off-Facebook activity." The feature was launched in South Korea, Ireland and Spain, consistent with Facebook's tendency to launch features in smaller markets first. The company didn’t give a timeline for when it might expand it to the U.S. and other countries, only that it will be in "coming months."