Stealth Mode: Making Yourself Nearly Invisible on Facebook

A: Facebook, as you're well aware by this point, has a history of privacy scandals. By early Monday morning the Facebook team had dialed back the change until further notice.

Some of the privacy issues have been just too much for users, resulting in cancelled accounts. But more and more organizations are joining the Facebook Connect network and incorporating the site's development tools into their own. If you're ready to move into Facebook stealth mode, follow these simple steps:

• Visit Facebook.com, log in to your profile and click 'Account' in the top-right corner. From there, choose 'Privacy Settings.'

• From the 'Privacy Settings' page, click on 'View Settings' to see who can search for you, send messages to your account, see your education and work settings and more. • Return to the 'Privacy Settings' page and choose 'Customize Settings' near the bottom of the page. This new page will load a number of different privacy options, but you'll want to click through each one and change the setting to 'Only Me' so that nobody else can see your Facebook activity.

• Return to the 'Privacy Settings' page and, under 'Apps and Websites' in the bottom-left corner, select 'Edit Your Settings.' This page shows all of the third-party websites and applications that you have given access to some of your Facebook information. • Stay on the 'Apps and Websites' page, scroll down to 'Instant Personalization' and select 'Edit Settings.' Uncheck the box at the bottom of this page to block other websites from accessing your Facebook interests. • Return to the 'Apps and Websites' page, scroll down to 'Public Search' and select 'Edit Settings.' To keep search engines from finding your Facebook profile, uncheck the box on this new screen.