Are you ready to boost your Facebook security? Today, we share more private information online than ever before. Try counting the number of websites, services, and/or online stores that have access to your personal information. You’ll probably have to use more than one hand.
The good news is that these sites are making a concentrated effort to protect our private information. Apple has introduced a more thorough two-step verification process for its iCloud service, and now Facebook is introducing a brand new feature to increase your account’s security and help you get in if your profile gets hacked.
Let’s take a closer look at the newest security feature in social media: Facebook Trusted Contacts.
Facebook “Trusted Friends” Becomes “Trusted Contacts”
Back in 2011, Facebook started testing out a new feature that they called “Trusted Friends.” This was the first step towards introducing a system that would leave behind older safeguards like security questions and CAPTCHAs.
Imagine that you’re giving your Trusted Contacts the keys to your home, for a good idea of how to treat this new security feature.
With “Trusted Friends,” users could pick Facebook connections with whom they felt comfortable sharing their personal information. Should the original user have any trouble getting into her or his account, one or more of the Trusted Friends would be able to help provide access.
It’s a smart idea, when considering how easy it can be to forget things like your “secret security question.” Especially when considering that different websites feature different question options, all of which might require different answers. Security questions and answers can be a lot to keep track of.
Trusted Friends was the first step towards eliminating some of that confusion.
Now, the whole experience has been rebuilt from the ground up:
“Recently, we have redesigned an improved Trusted Friends, and it has a new name: Trusted Contacts. To give you more control over your account security, you can now manage your trusted contacts anytime from your Security Settings.”
With the ability to manage this feature from your Facebook Security Settings, you don’t have to wait until you’ve been hacked before you can access your Trusted Contacts for help.
The whole process has been redesigned for simplicity and to give Facebook users a bit more security when it comes to their accounts and personal information.
How to Pick Your Trusted Contacts
Selecting your Trusted Contacts is actually quite simple and there are a lot of options for recovering your compromised Facebook account. All you really need to do is head into your Security Settings and pick out the five contacts that you want to select as your Trusted Contacts.
This can be done by clicking the little sprocket icon that you see in the top, right-hand corner of the screen anytime you’re on Facebook. From there, select “Account Settings,” and you’ll notice “Security” in the menu that sits at the top, left-hand side of the page. This gives you a bevy of security options, one of which will be your Trusted Contacts.
The Security settings for your Facebook account can be accessed by clicking the “sprocket” icon in the top right, followed by “Security” at the top left.
Then, you can pick five friends to act as your Trusted Contacts. These ladies and/or gentlemen will then be able to help you get back into your account should your Facebook login be compromised for whatever reason.
Just make sure you’ve got a way to get in touch outside of Facebook, of course, and remember that you’ll need three of your contacts to help you gain access.
Picking the Right Facebook Contacts
Just remember to select your Trusted Contacts carefully. You’ll want to make sure you can trust them all with your private information. Think of Trusted Contacts as people you’d give spare keys to house to, and make sure you have a way to get in touch with outside of Facebook.
If your account is hacked, your Trusted Contacts will be sent a security code. When you get three of these Trusted Contacts’ codes, you’ll be able to log back into your account. And remember, if you think you’ve been hacked, you can always visit www.facebook.com/hacked for more help.
Do you think you’ll be implementing this Facebook security feature right away? Let us know in the comments.
See Also
Facebook Delays New Privacy Policy After Watchdog Concerns
Facebook Privacy Bug Exposes 6 Million User Phone Numbers, Emails
Facebook Finally Gets Hashtags: What This Means for You
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