DATA TOOL - FACEBOOK- DAWN TOSS

FACEBOOK Launches data control tool.

Facebook - under pressure to ramp up privacy rules across its platform, said on Tuesday it was rolling out a tool allowing users to control data that it receives from other apps and websites about their online activity.

The new tool is to give clients across their so-called ''off-Facebook activity'' fed back to Facebook with the aim of targeting advertisements - and give them the option of deleting it.

''Off-Facebook Activity lets you see a summary of the apps and websites that sends us information about your activity, and clear this information from your account if you want to,'' it said in a statement.

''This is another way to give your people more transparency and control on Facebook,'' it said.

Currently, commercial websites visited by a customer who also has a Facebook account may send  Facebook details of that visit, prompting the social network to show that person ads related to any product they may have searched for. [AFP]