Facebook list of everywhere users have been can be viewed on its website – and deleted

The information is kept private but is used to sell ads

(AFP/Getty)

Facebook is tracking where its users go in the real world – and you can see what they know.

The site now offers a full and detailed page where you can see everything stored as part of its location history feature, which uses your phone to track where you have been.

For some people, the page will show a map of every journey you have been on and every place they've visited. For others there might be less or no information, depending on settings and whether you have the app installed.

Facebook says that the feature is used to make sure that the information being shown is as relevant as it can be.

"Turning on Location History lets you explore what's around you, get more relevant ads, and help improve Facebook," a description on the page reads. "It allows Facebook to build a history of precise locations received through your device. Your Location History is private and secure."

But the feature has gained increased relevance in the wake of Facebook's recent data abuse scandals, which have turned attention to what information the company is gathering and how it is using it. The data shown as part of the location history is explicitly used for advertising, allowing companies to target you on the basis of where you are or have been.

But the page also exists to make it easier for people to delete either all or some of the information. That can be done from the same page, which can be found here on Facebook's website.

Facebook is far from the only app collecting information about where you are.

Google, for instance, has a very similar feature called Your Timeline, which is found within Google Maps and can show everywhere you have been. Like many such features, it can be turned off from that same page and data can be removed from there too.