While Places took center stage, a number of smaller features and tweaks were added to the latest iPhone app, not the least of which is the ability to play with your privacy settings on a post-by-post basis.

That meant, if you had a status update you didn't want to share with everyone, you better wait until later. That group of friends you defined specifically so you wouldn't mix business with pleasure was only good for when you were sitting at a desktop, not out in the world. Now, when you open the status update box in the iPhone app, a small lock icon appears, and tapping it opens up a list of custom friend lists and pre-defined privacy settings, like "Everyone", "Friends of Friends" and "Friends Only". The feature follows last month's addition of mobile privacy settings on Facebook's mobile website, which means you can now define custom friend groups and post to those groups while you're out and about.

Tagging and Beyond

In addition to these, we've also noticed that profiles and pages tagged in status updates are now shown in the Facebook app, making it easier to navigate. Last week, tagging was made even easier (from the website, not mobile) with the addition of an auto-suggest feature to the status update box. Now, navigating to those pages from the iPhone app is possible as well.

The increasing ease with which we can tag people, places and things in Facebook (as well as "like" them, of course) seems to be pushing the site further and further in the direction of making recommendations based on any number of characteristics. We are now not only connected with friends by way of our on-site friendships, but where we check in with them and how much we tag them at different places. And we're also connected to activities and products, by way of tagging those items in our updates.

We're waiting to see how all of this tagging affects our overall experience, such as the relevance of what status updates we see in our stream or what ads are displayed based on where we check in.

The app, which also requires a desktop software download (currently Windows-only, Mac coming soon), connects your iTunes music library to Facebook and then continually syncs changes as you purchase and add new music.

But in order for your friends to like and comment on these items, they too have to install the app. This requires the usual friend-spamming tactics most of us have put behind us as of late. (Invite your friends to try Music WithMe! Ugh.)

Issues, Errors and Complaints

The application installation, in our tests, didn't go as smoothly as it should have. After installing the app, it doesn't immediately run and/or hide itself to the system tray. You actually have to go seek it out from the Start Menu and manually launch it, entering in the same username and password combination you provided the Facebook application. Even after it had started, visiting the app's page only showed a "Runtime Error" message at first (Server Error in '/' Application, it says). We're not sure if it just needed a few minutest to get going or if it required iTunes to be launched before it could sync, but the app eventually worked.

Without friend participation, however, Music WithMe is somewhat useless to the person installing it. There's no way to, say, take a track from your own list and post it to your Facebook Wall or a friend's Wall, alongside a message like "this song rocks rocks!", for instance. That would be a handy feature for an app billed as a way to socialize around your iTunes music.

It would also be nice if the application's page showed which tracks were being shared the most among its users, perhaps even going so far as to allow you to like and comment on those items as well.

Music WithMe is in beta at present so there's still time for it to improve, but for now, it leaves a lot to be desired.

On the other hand, music streaming site Pandora's implementation of Facebook's "Instantly Personalized" feature is a better alternative for socializing around music, we think. Although some - including U.S. senators and EU regulators - feel that such a feature violates Facebook users' privacy, the end result is a better overall experience. Without having to do a thing, Facebook users who haven't opted out of this data-sharing behavior can immediately see, upon login to Pandora.com, what music their Facebook friends like. They can also like and comment on a particular band via Facebook's "like" button, or just comment directly on the site.

Music WithMe needs to offer more features if it wants to compete with this type of seamless social interaction, especially given its somewhat cumbersome installation process. The result needs to be worth your while. Right now, we can't say that it is.

What Wowd promises is a tool to "filter Facebook." It lets you create custom feeds, read personalized summaries, remove game spam from your News Feed and search your social network with advanced tools.

But will Wowd "wow" you?

To start off, it's important to understand what Wowd is not. It's not a Facebook app in the traditional sense of the word. That is, you don't interact with Wowd on Facebook itself, a choice that seems a little odd given the service's focus.

Instead, Wowd is desktop software - yes, the kind that you actually have to download, install and run on your comptuer's hard drive.

The software (Mac, Windows and Linux supported), once installed opens up a Web browser window pointed to http://localhost:8101, which is a directory on your own PC. The app runs in the browser window, allowing it to have the feel of a Web-based service, but both it and the data it creates are saved locally.

After providing Wowd the proper permissions via a Facebook authorization screen, the app gathers data by parsing your profile. This takes some time, at least it did for me and my 200-some friends. If you only have a few seconds to spare, now is not the time to test out Wowd.

Your News Feed, Filtered

The service's primary function is its filtered News Feed. It automatically marks game updates (like Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc.) as spam and hides them from view. It also lets you filter by topic or keyword and create a feed just for those terms. For example, you could create a feed for "Droid" to find friends discussing the latest Android phone or "Inception" to find people talking about the hot new movie from Christopher Nolan.

While that's a nice option, we suppose, it's also a baked-in feature in Facebook itself, even if it's under-utilized. In Facebook, you enter in a search term in the box at the top and instead of letting it default to the top result by hitting "Enter," you click the link to "See More Results." Here, one of the many filters present is "posts by friends." Ta-da, News Feed filtered!

The difference is that, in Wowd's implementation, these search queries can be saved as "custom feeds." You can even be alerted via desktop notifications when new posts arrive. Perfect for data-mining your friends, we suppose.

There's also an interesting (read: odd) bulletin-board type interface for reviewing your News Feed items. Birthday reminders, photos and "shout-outs" (status updates) are arranged as items pinned to a corkboard in a very MySpace-y widget sort of way. This is not a huge selling point for the app.

Wowd Not Wowing Me with its CPU, Memory Utilization

Finally, the fatal blow: the app killed my computer. No really, it did. Generally I scoff at reports of desktop apps being responsible for "slowing down PCs." It's usually a combination of malware, an unpatched system and a half-decade old OS that does that. But Wowd really slowed down my computer! At one point, it had eaten up over 30% CPU and over 740,000 K of memory. (For comparison purposes, the busiest tab in Chrome is at 98,000 K right now). I believe that the app was still busy archiving my profile data in the background and this isn't indicative of how it usually performs, but considering how long it spiked, I eventually had to kill it in order to put up this post. I don't think I'll be returning.

Now, don't get me wrong: I like Wowd's base concept of customized and savable keyword-based feeds - what geek wouldn't? But dealing with the first desktop app I've installed since TweetDeck reminds me of why I love the cloud - the processing power required is dealt with on their servers, not mine. And considering this PC is a few years old already, I need every spare cycle I can get.

According to the BBC news, the launch is a victory that came about after months of negotiation between CEOP and the social networking site. Says Jim Gamble, CEOP's chief executive: "Today... is a good day for child protection."

Gamble had turned the story about social networking panic buttons (and the lack thereof) into a bit of a media circus over the past several months. In November, he attacked both Facebook and MySpace after social networking site Bebo became the first to launch the CEOP button. Instead of focusing just on the benefits of the technology, Gamble was more intent on criticizing the competing sites for refusing to do the same. "They are creating a public space that attracts young people, children and adults, so they can make money through advertising. There is a responsibility, a duty of care, to the young and the vulnerable," he was quoted as saying.

MySpace soon followed Bebo in accepting the button onto its site, but Facebook stood its ground. Shortly after Gamble's public admonishment, a Facebook rep replied that it already had a robust reporting system in place and could do a better job by liaising with police itself. "We also work closely with police forces in the U.K. and around the world to create a safe environment. Our teams are manned by trained staff in two continents, giving 24-hour support in 70 languages," a spokesman told U.K.-based news site The Register in late November.

Today CEOP is claiming victory, saying that Facebook is now supporting the button too. But is it? The CEOP button appears to be just another Facebook app - one the social network would have probably approved to begin with if the group had just asked nicely.

The BBC story on this launch reports that the new application integrates abuse reporting into both Facebook and CEOP's systems, which means that the social network did at least somewhat concede to CEOP's demands by permitting that level of access. Facebook will also promote the button to its youngest users by way of prominent advertisements. However, it will not be pre-installed for users.

Facebook, for what it's worth, would prefer that you not call this app a "panic button." It's an optional download that also provides messages about how to stay safe in addition to its abuse-reporting features. Plus, its focus is obviously on U.K. teens, although anyone can install the app.

Does Facebook Need More Abuse-Reporting Options?

The real story here is not whether or not a button launched, whether it's to be called a "panic button" or not, and so on. It's whether or not the public feels comfortable enough with the job that Facebook is doing in protecting its youngest users from abuse. MySpace's decline, after all, was in part due to the way that children were friending strangers in large numbers, many of whom turned out to be less-than-savory characters. Now given Facebook's seemingly unstoppable growth - the site is nearing half a billion users - and its corporate belief that age of privacy is over, can Facebook also handle the cyber abuse that such a level of openness invites?

Facebook isn't ignoring its duties here, though. Recently, it launched a revamped Safety Center with educational information for users and sections dedicated to parents, teens, teachers and law enforcement professionals. But for a network where personal privacy is no longer a given, it's not surprising that some may think there's a need for resources outside Facebook itself to handle the damages that this new "forced" openness will likely bring about.

The new procedure aims to cut down on the number of rogue applications created by hackers and spammers by forcing developers to share personally identifiable information. Unfortunately, say multiple security researchers, verification alone is not enough to stop these malicious apps.

Last week, we began to wonder if Facebook needed to implement its own anti-malware service after an especially busy weekend where thousands of user accounts were compromised by rogue applications promising tantalizing videos to anyone who was willing to click here. Not surprisingly, many did just that, and ended up on an off-site Web page where malware was installed on their PCs.

On May 15, security firm AVG reported its anti-malware service had blocked more than 30,000 rogue Facebook applications - a number so large, the company's chief researcher officer, Roger Thompson, called it "stunning."

But will the new verification measures actually make dangerous applications a thing of the past? Probably not. Adept spammers will quickly figure out how to bypass the security procedures using stolen credit cards or disposable mobile phones.

Security Researchers Response: It's Not Enough

We asked several security researchers what they thought about the new procedures and none believed the new program was anywhere near strong enough to thwart the onslaught of rogue apps on Facebook.

According to security expert Graham Cluley of Sophos, cybercriminals won't find that bypassing the measures will be very difficult at all, and will likely use stolen credit cards and pay-as-you-go throwaway mobile phone numbers to get their apps verified. He encourages Facebook to do more than the new measures. "As these applications are being made available to an estimated 500 million users, Facebook would be doing its users a real service if they put in place stronger controls over application developers," Cluley says. "After all, what legitimate application developer is going to complain?"

Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro, calls the new program a small step in the right direction, but also feels better application approval methods are in order. "Facebook will find themselves playing the same old game of whack-a-mole unless they institute some form of application approvals process as is already the case on competitor networks," he warns, again reiterating that neither of the new measures are enough to stop real criminals.

Security Evangelist Ryan Naraine of Kaspersky, agrees, saying the only way Facebook can really fix things is to "implement some form of code signing or code inspections when the app is submitted." However, Naraine admits the new program is at least "a step in the right direction."

The OpenGraph Search API is a part of Facebook's newly launched developer API, an interface to the social network which allows developers to access (with permission) users' profiles, friends, status updates, etc. for use within Facebook applications and external services built on top of Facebook's platform.

The search API in particular allows developers the ability to search all public objects available in the social graph, including posts, people, pages, events, groups and even an individual user's New Feed as documented here on the Facebook developer site.

In Facebook's provided example query, the search term used is "watermelon," which may or may not be a very popular topic, so we used keywords that we were sure had been posted publicly somewhere, at some point, by at least one of Facebook's 400 million users.

For instance, in a query for the word "graduation," the most recent result result was a status update from 23:20 GMT (19:20 EST military time or 7:20 PM EST). The "updated_time" of that post was this morning, but that only refers to when a user comments on a post according to Facebook's developer documentation.

In other words, around 7:20 PM EST last night, the OpenGraph API stopped pulling in new public status updates.

According to the developer who reported the issue, both his forum posting and bug report have, so far, been unanswered. We have also reached out to Facebook's PR team and have yet to receive a response. (We will update this post if we do).

Facebook Outage Raises Questions

The larger issue here isn't just that a portion of Facebook's platform has gone down - numerous web services have issues from time to time, including everything from Gmail to Twitter. An outage of this length, however, with no official communication from the company itself is disturbing.

With Facebook's new "Open Graph" initiative, the network has launched an incredibly ambitious plan to socialize the entire web by way of publisher plugins, APIs, "like" buttons, instantly personalized websites like Pandora and Yelp, "login with Facebook" boxes, live streams (like those found on CNN during live events) and more.

The social network is weaving itself into the very fabric of the web which means publishers, developers and users now depend on it to stay up-and-running at all times. If it's not able to do so, then it essentially becomes a single point of failure for a number of web sites and services.

Today, only Facebook applications and services requiring access to public streams have been affected by the outage. Tomorrow, who knows? You can no longer "like" something or login to your favorite website? How will Facebook communicate its outages going forward? What will this mean for developers whose apps rely on Facebook's platform?These questions remain unanswered. We hope that Facebook is thinking about these things too as it struggles to fix its broken API this morning. We hope it will have an answer soon.

Also, they would like us to know it's called the Graph API, not OpenGraph API.

With the ever-growing concern about Facebook's data-sharing policies - policies that are now under attack from several U.S. senators - people are becoming more concerned about how personal information shared with the world's largest social networking site is being used.

After already having been blindsided with "recommended settings" that automatically publicized previously private data like status updates and photos, Facebook users are now dealing with even more changes that have major privacy implications. Recently announced initiatives include things like "instantly personalized" websites that tap into your Facebook data without prior authorization, revamped profile pages where every interest of yours from bands to books is made public and new terms for Facebook application developers that allow apps to store your data indefinitely.

Despite these radical changes on Facebook's part, few users are actually deleting their Facebook accounts. Although the privacy concerns are troubling, the social network has become more than a simple pastime for many people. Instead, it has transformed into a communication tool nearly as vital as email for staying in touch with networks of friends, family, co-workers and other colleagues.

Now instead of deleting your Facebook account, The Green Safe app offers a viable alternative: keep Facebook, but remove Facebook's ability to access your data. And with the data gone from Facebook, application developers and their partners are also out of luck... at least those whose apps you install going forward.

How "The Green Safe" Works

To use The Green Safe, you grant it access just like any other Facebook application, quiz or game, then tell it to "Import Your Data." After the import is complete, follow the instructions provided to add the app to a tab on your Facebook profile. It will appear as a tab labeled "My Info", which only your friends can see. At this point, you can return to your Facebook profile and delete the information stored there, removing it from Facebook's control.

This is a somewhat ingenious workaround to the data-privacy situation on Facebook - using Facebook's own application platform against them. However, don't be fooled into thinking that your personal data is now completely and entirely private, either.

The Green Safe's homepage clearly states that the app "may use your info to serve up ads that target your interests." In other words, your personal data may be made into a marketing tool. However, the privacy policy does assure that the company will not "share, trade or sell your information with anyone."

So with The Green Safe you may see a few ads in the future, it seems. Still, that's nothing worse that what Facebook already does. (If you've ever wondered why Facebook's ads are so eerily, creepily personalized, it's because the Facebook ad platform allows advertisers the ability to very narrowly target users using the information shared on profile pages.)

With The Green Safe installed, you're turning over your data to a company whose business relies on keeping data safe instead of the opposite: sharing it with the world, as Facebook does. It may not be a perfect solution, but it's definitely a workaround that's worth checking out.

Is the App Trustworthy?

The Green Safe's application developer, LJ Jones, runs a blog here. The most recent post, "My Info is not a Commodity," is a diatribe against Facebook's changes. We asked Jones why we should trust his app over Facebook. This was his response:

Since I can't offer a "Money Back Guarantee" of some sort, the best I can do is offer the following:

1. My Commitment to Users and Their Privacy.

I will not share, give, sell, trade or allow anyone to have access to user's data that The Green Safe stores. Ever. Its theirs and not mine even if I am storing it for them. I also commit not to change this policy down the road. I would like this commitment to be know from the start so that users and media hold me to.

2. My Reputation

I am willing to put my name and reputation behind it and would like to be open about who I am and what I am doing. I give you full permission to publish any or all of this email. I also hope that people would look at my blog and read about some of the ideas and thoughts that I published before even conceiving of The Green Safe. http://blog.ljjones.com/

3. Privacy

Even though privacy seems to be eroding, I believe that people still value their privacy and that there is an opportunity for someone to give people greater control over their own privacy http://blog.ljjones.com/2009/12/zuckerberg-is-clueless.html. I hope that over time, I can do this with The Green Safe. I also believe that taking a Seth Godin "Permission Marketing" approach is much better than a "We've got you and your data hostage, Opt-In" approach to building a relationship with users and making money.

4. I am a Concerned Facebook User

I built the Green Safe because I am tired of the way that Facebook has been treating me and my data. Back in February of 2009 when Facebook changed their TOS regarding content, I started a group called "Facebook doesn't own me or my content" http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=127820105273.

5. Give Users Control

From the beginning I wanted to give users control over their own data and not decide for them or give them the run around. I have built a feature into The Green Safe that allows a users to permanently delete all of their data from the database with just two clicks. http://apps.facebook.com/thegreensafe/delete.php. They are in control of deleting it at any time and they don't have to call customer service to do it.

6. Users Can Contact Me.

If people have questions I hope they contact me. I have provided a form in the Green Safe that allows them to easily send me an email. http://apps.facebook.com/thegreensafe/feedback.php]]> Discuss]]> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/new_app_helps_you_keep_facebooks_hands_off_your_data.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/new_app_helps_you_keep_facebooks_hands_off_your_data.php Facebook Mon, 03 May 2010 07:23:15 -0800 Sarah Perez The tech world is still reeling from the impact of Facebook's radical changes, announced last week a the F8 developer's conference, and their implications for privacy, the open Web and the future of social networking. However, these newly introduced features, such as the "like" button for websites, social plugins and Facebook's Open Graph API, have spurred some early-adopting developers to create tools for end users that include everything from bookmarklets to search engines. Over the course of the past week or so, a number of these tools have been covered by leading tech blogs (including us, of course), but we wanted to create a resource that lists all of them in one place.

Zesty.ca/facebook: Want to see what Facebook knows about you? Don't let its stark interface fool you - this search engine is filled with useful information. To use it, enter in your Facebook user ID or username (if you created one) and you can see what information is currently being shared publicly.

2. ItsTrending

ItsTrending: ItsTrending is a new website that shows what items are being shared the most across all of Facebook. The site breaks down the public shares into categories like videos, news, images, sports, tech, gaming, entertainment and comedy. Even if you don't use Facebook, the site is great for discovered viral videos and other popular content.

3. LikeButton.me + WeRSocial

LikeButton.me: Somewhat like ItsTrending, this site also focuses on popular Facebook content. However, instead of focusing on everyone's shares, it looks at what's being shared by your Facebook friends. Essentially, it's a collection of links your friends find interesting. A drop-down box lets you customize the page to show links by category (like sports, tech, video, news, etc.).

WeRSocial is another implementation of this setup, but the categories are on the left instead of in a drop-down box.

4. Open Facebook Search

Open Facebook Search: Even if you've never signed up for Facebook and never will, you can still use Open Facebook Search. It's a search engine of the Facebook timeline and all the public data it contains outside of Facebook. Just type in your query and click "search" to see Facebook conversations, links, photos and videos in real-time.

5. OneRiot

OneRiot: The real-time search engine that previously indexed sites like Twitter, MySpace, Delicious and Digg has now added publicly shared "likes" to its index. The addition of Facebook data provides "search results that reflect the pulse of a much, much wider social Web," says a company blog post.

6. Facebook Like Button Bookmarklet

The Facebook Like Button bookmarklet (described here) lets you like anything on the Internet - even if there's no like button available on that page. Using the bookmarklet instead of a page's own "like" button also protects you from "like fraud" - that is, being tricked to like something else besides the webpage they're on.

7. Facebook.me

Facebook developers used the Open Graph API to created Facebook.me, a Web service that turns your Facebook content into a blog via a Facebook app. Once you authorize the app to access your posts, comments, photos, videos and other items, it's published to this external site. You can then customize the page using a built-in theme switcher. (Note: only for those who don't mind publicizing all their Facebook content!)

Have we forgotten something? Let us know in the comments.

It's spreading like wildfire, but we have to ask - has anyone considered the up side to any of these changes?

As of today, FB has a new privacy setting called "Instant Personalization" that shares data with non-facebook websites and it is automatically set to "Allow." Go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites and uncheck "Allow", then repost this to your profile.

Is each and every one of these people going and reading the terms of service or the privacy policy to find out what exactly they're blocking out? We quite doubt it. And while the sharing of your data sounds quite scary, we have to wonder if this reactionary unchecking is causing some who would otherwise benefit to miss out. After all, are we really all that concerned about Pandora knowing, from the moment we load the site, that we're huge Weezer fans?

The setting in question actually pertains to three partner sites - Docs.com, Pandora and Yelp. Facebook's explanation of the proposed experience:

We're working closely with these partners so you can quickly connect with your friends and see relevant content on their sites. These sites personalize your experience using your public Facebook information.

When you arrive on these sites, you'll see a notification from Facebook at the top of the page.

You can easily opt-out of experiencing this on these sites by "No Thanks" on the blue Facebook notification on the top of partner sites.

The particular setting in question reads "Allow select partners to instantly personalize their features with my public information when I first arrive on their websites."

Caution is good, but the cautionary tales of people losing their jobs, wives, husbands, whatever, because of Facebook have potentially gone a bit too far. We are a generation constantly terrified by the idea of someone, somewhere, effectively advertising to us by way of glancing at our "data" and knowing whether or not we like country music or alternative 1990s rock. But is it really so terrifying to have annoying banner ads offering deals on some product you might actually enjoy? We wear t-shirts declaring our fandom of certain bands; we paste bumper stickers on our cars professing our ideals; heck, we tell Pandora night and day what type of music we like and don't - but the second we hear about Facebook sharing info (such as our list of musical interests) we run in fear.

Now, after going and looking at the terms of service, privacy policy, or even just the simple text in the settings page, you may very well decide that you do not want your information to be shared. That's fine and valid. But at least consider the options first.

Facebook has offered a copy of the new privacy policy, with all of the changes highlighted, that you might want to take a look at before deciding. Privacy is, after all, a personal preference and something that ought to be finely tuned according to your own reservations and judgements, not something that should be determined by a viral tidbit that everyone copies and pastes to their profile.

For an in-depth look at how (and why) you should delete applications from your Facebook account, take a look at Sarah Perez's take on the subject.

But should Facebook end users cheer this news, too?

For developers, the removal of this technical limitation is great news. Apps had to constantly connect to Facebook's servers in order to refresh their data. Application load speeds were also affected as the apps would have to do this server pinging process upon first launch. Now the data the apps need will already be there - a change that may even result in noticeable performance gains for the end users of the applications.

Yes, Facebook Apps Have Your Data

The new policy, however, brings to light something that your average Facebook user may not have ever known at all: Facebook applications access your personal data.

We've looked at this issue before (see: "What Facebook Quizzes Know About You") after the ACLU put together an awareness campaign surrounding the privacy issues of Facebook applications. Using a sample app, the ACLU's Facebook Quiz, many everyday Facebook users were shocked to find that applications (like quizzes) could access almost everything on a user profile, including hometown, groups you belong to, events attended, favorite books, and more. What's worse is that your profile information becomes available to developers when your friends take the same quiz.

Why the Policy Change is Riskier Than It Appears

On its own, the new data retention policy doesn't change how developers can use the data they store. In fact, for some developers, it won't change much of anything at all - many simply ignored Facebook's rules about data retention in the past. Even with the change, it's just business as usual for those developers and their apps.

That said, the indefinite storage now permitted is concerning for a few reasons. As security engineer Joey Tyson points out on his blog, a site where he has detailed numerous hacks and security holes for Facebook, Google and more, the change makes Facebook apps "far more valuable targets for attackers."

A popular application's database could be filled with literally millions of users' personal details (Facebook now touts 400 million users and Facebook's most popular app, Farmville, for instance, boasts over 81 million users). If such a database was targeted for attack, the payload for hackers could be incredible.

In addition, Tyson explains, opportunities for behavioral targeting and visitor tracking are increased since developers can now maintain complete archives of profile information.

It's also worth noting, as tech blog VentureBeat points out, it's impossible for Facebook to know about how application developers are using the data they collect. If a developer chooses to use that data in ways that are misleading, malicious or that break the company's terms of agreement, Facebook may not be aware. With 500,000 supported applications, Facebook just doesn't have the resources to police the apps they house.

How to Remove Facebook Applications

To the end user, these changes may sound overwhelming and even scary. But there is something very easy everyone can do to minimize their risk and that's delete the Facebook applications you no longer use.

The process of doing so is incredibly simple.

After signing into Facebook, do the following:

1. Click on "Account" at the top-right of the screen.
2. Click "Application Settings"
3. Change the "Show" drop-down box to "Authorized." This will show all the applications you've ever given permission to.
4. In the resulting list, click the "X" button on the far right next to each app you want to remove to delete it.
5. On the pop-up box that appears, click "Remove" then click "Okay" on the next box confirming the app was deleted.

Repeat this process to remove all the apps you no longer use on a regular basis.

Doing this won't eliminate risk entirely - nothing can do that - but it's a good first step in reducing risk. However, as long as you have a Facebook account, your data won't be private. If true privacy is really a concern for you, it may be time to find that account delete button instead. (Hint: it's under "Account Settings.")

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Although it might be a great interface for newbies, that app isn't recommended for power users. But we just found one that is - for desktop use, anyway. It's an agile bit of hotness that's as responsive and unobtrusive as you'd ever want, and it can also provide you with a stock-ticker-esque UI that will satiate all your info-social needs. Meet SocialVisor - the Twitter app.

Here's the skinny:

• You can run your social streams as a retractable bar above your desktop screen.
• You can login to Twitter and Facebook and choose to see either or both streams.
• You can group your buddies any way you want, regardless of which site they use.
• You can access DMs, retweets, replies and mentions.
• You can see threaded conversations from Twitter.
• You can share and view links, updates and pictures on either or both networks.

And more other common features for third-party apps, such as retweeting, following or unfollowing, replying, liking/favorite-ing, commenting and more. And when you want to update, links are automatically shortened with bit.ly and character counts are tracked as you type, all from a simple bar above your other windows.

If a user clicks his "exclamation" icon, there's a slim popout for Facebook notifications. If you need to focus on other tasks, no problem - you can "pause" the entire firehose and resume any time you like.

When you don't need it, it retreats conveniently into the background. There are no annoying popups flooding your screen when your stream gets a little noisy

The app has been live for about a month, and it's just what the doctor ordered. It's an OS-agnostic AIR application, so it'll play nicely with Linux, Windows or Macs. We can see ourselves running this on the daily. One issue we had is that, while the visor does optionally dock at the top of the screen, when it's locked on top, we were unable to access our menu bars for maximized windows. It's still in beta, and a bit buggy, but what kind of early adopters would we be if we didn't admit this app has huge potential, bugs and all?

Give it a shot, and let us know what you think in the comments.

Zingr allows you to spread your insights - and share those links - with your Facebook fandom, all with the click of a button. It's a Firefox add-on, and it's magical.

Plant your Zingrs on any page you like. The notes will show up in your Facebook stream, and interested friends will click through to see your comments:

Great for sharing links and leaving your comments just for your Facebook friends to see, Zingr is a snarky new tool we think some of you might enjoy.

None of these apps look to be groundbreaking in either design or functionality. The iPhone/iPod touch app, once approved, will give users the ability to watch videos and hear speeches by Pope Benedict XVI, as well as other content from Catholic events worldwide.

Facebook App: Boring

The Facebook app, which is currently loading very slowly, is also not exactly the most groundbreaking app either. Facebook users will be able to send and receive 20 different virtual postcards of the Pope, with texts available in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish (with Latin being conspicuously absent here). According to the app's description, installing it will allow you to "Spread friendship with the Pope and become a witness of Christ in the world through the web."

In January this year, the Vatican also launched its YouTube channel, though so far, none of the videos posted there have gone viral yet.

Disappointment: Can't Poke the Pope

For now, however, users who were hoping to get a chance to poke the Pope or even just friend him on Facebook are out of luck, as the Pope does not have an official Facebook profile, yet.

According to Facebook's own Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, users own all the content and information they post on Facebook, but, Facebook's users also grant Facebook a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook ("IP License"). We are not quite sure how Facebook's own license (which has created its share of controversy in the past) would play together with some of the more restrictive and open Creative Commons licenses.

Given that Creative Commons and its licenses are probably still relatively unknown outside of the small world of those who regularly follow copyright issues, it would probably be good if the application explained the different license choices in a bit more detail. The application links to the Creative Commons FAQ, but the information there is probably a bit too abstract for most users who just want a good idea of what license to choose - and why they might want to do that in the first place.

Maybe a link to this video from the Creative Commons or this slideshow would explain the purpose behind Creative Commons a bit better for new users.

Inside Job, developed by Arlington Soho, works on the premise that having a contact on the inside of a company will improve your chances of getting hired there. Here are its main features:

2. "Insider" connections. Do you want to work at Microsoft, but you don't have any connections there? With Inside Job you can search "Microsoft" and Redmond, Washington" (or any other location) and locate the company's lead contacts that you can find on Facebook. You can then add those contacts to any of your other professional networks for future reference.

3. Be a resource for others. Both employers and employees can benefit from using Inside Job. Employers can post jobs and employees can help recruit qualified talent to their companies and possibly earn their company's referral bonuses.

These are certainly tough times for job seekers in all markets. Using a free Facebook application like this could be a great way for people to network their way into a new career.