How to limit Instagram from using your data for AI and ads

You can keep Instagram from using your activity outside the app to influence the ads you get.

Instagram can make an ad feel almost telepathic. Browse a product on another site, and an ad for the same thing may appear in your feed minutes later. Despite its uncanny accuracy, Meta says it doesn't use your phone's microphone to listen in on your conversations to serve those ads. A retailer, app or other business may instead have sent it information about your visit, purchase or another interaction.

There's no master switch that stops Instagram from collecting or using data. Meta can still learn from what you search for, watch, like, follow, post and click inside Instagram. It also receives device and network information, location-related signals, data from businesses and information shared across connected accounts. On top of that, Meta AI can use Facebook and Instagram activity to tailor its recommendations , too. The best approach to limiting what Instagram can track is to check settings for each of these sources separately.

Meta began rolling out a broader Activity from other businesses control in July 2026. It's replacing Your activity off Meta technologies and expanding an older ad setting called Activity information from ad partners . The new control decides whether businesses can use the information they already send to personalize ads, Feed content and AI responses.

To adjust this setting, open Instagram, go to your profile, tap the three-line menu and open Accounts Center . Look for Activity from other businesses . Because Meta is introducing the setting by country, some accounts may still show Ad preferences > Ad settings > Activity information from ad partners instead. Choose the option that prevents Meta from using this activity for personalization.

This won't stop businesses from sending the data or Meta from using activity generated inside Instagram. Ads can still reflect the accounts you follow, posts or Reels you engage with, searches, ad clicks, profile details or customer lists uploaded by advertisers. The setting makes it so your activity off Meta's platforms doesn't inform your ad experience rather than shutting down all ad personalization.

In the European Region, Accounts Center also offers personalized or less-personalized ads under Ad preferences > Ad settings > Ad experience . The second option uses fewer signals, but Meta says it can still use details such as age, location, device information, ad interactions and content on screen during the current session.

On an iPhone, open Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking and turn off Instagram's permission. Apple's Ask App Not to Track control blocks tracking across other companies' apps and websites for advertising or sharing information with data brokers. It doesn't stop Instagram from recording activity inside its own app.