Facebook Trusted Contacts: call friends to recover your account

[Jesse]

Facebook has announced a new account recovery feature called Trusted Contacts. An enhancement to the existing Trusted Friends feature they first started testing in 2011, Trusted Contacts allows users to identify people they trust from within the security settings of their account who are authorized to assist in account recovery.

Users are allowed to choose 3 to 5 people from their friends list, and after enabling this feature, if you are ever locked out of your account and need to regain access your friends can assist you. After collecting three separate security codes from your friends, you can input them into Facebook to recover your account.

The Trusted Contacts method is certainly more secure than relying on recovery questions that are typically easily susceptible to social engineering.

Facebook says that good trusted contacts are:

• People you trust, like friends you’d give a spare key to your house.
• People you can reach without using Facebook, ideally over the phone or in person, since you’ll need to contact them when you can’t log in.

This feature sounds great to me in my present circumstance, but I can imagine more than one scenario for abuse. Call me a cynic, but high school is rife with kids who would readily dig around in each other’s Facebook accounts if they had access. Be sure not to upset all your trusted contacts simultaneously, lest they pool their codes and have their way with your account.

Will you use the new Trusted Contacts feature?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/52455-facebook-trusted-contacts-call-friends-to-recover-your-account.html

 

[St1ckM4n]

LOL. Cos this won't cause any (in ascending order) internet drama, school bullying, stolen accounts, stolen identities, lives ruined, suicides.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I like the concept, but yeah, there is a bit too much creepiness associated with it.

 

[Guest]

Sounds good yeah. Just one more way, like facial recognition, of identifying you. This tool will let fb and the government know three of your most trusted confidents, and they will each supply three of their own. In this way, a board of association can be constructed. More of the world's largest spyware program! Me? I am currently locked out of my account, with no explanation. No way to get back into it, as every time I try, I just get kicked around three separate pages, over and over again. This "feature" won't actually help most people who are locked out of their accounts, as most lock outs are punitive punishments for perceived or alleged violations of facebook rules of conduct. Mine? Not sure. I called Bibi a coward, maybe that was enough?

 

[LukeDJ]

Hahaha, this will not work. Most of the friends I would trust a house key with are also the people I would least trust with my Facebook account.

Now that I think about it, I wouldn't trust myself with my friends accounts

 

[NTAPRO]

Where can I find these trusted contacts >_>

 

[Timonius]

Where can I find these trusted contacts >_>

It's called get off of cyberspace and meet people for real in person (the ones who aren't glued to their cellphones while with people)...
;p

 

[mrcavooter]

This could make for awesome pranks though.

Note: Pranks on friends with a sense of humor, not suicidal ones.

 

[Dustyn]

Sounds utterly stupid. This is their idea of security? Facebook is a security issue.

 

[St1ckM4n]

This just in: Hospitals give the on/off switch on life support to trusted contacts gleamed via FB!