Transcript via SND.TV:
Are you ready to hand out your “spare keys” to a Facebook friend? The social network on Thursday announced a new program that allows your friends to unlock your account if you have login issues.
Called “Trusted Contacts” the new program gives three to five friends access to your account should you ever have login problems.
Trusted Contacts was born out of a concept the company tested way back in 2011 under the name “Trusted Friends”
A Facebook rep tells tech site Mashable:
“This solution provides users with another way to recover their password and can choose which method to use. In addition, while you might forget your security questions (or never set one up) you never forget who your friends are.”
Here’s how the program works. When an account can’t be accessed by the original user, Facebook sends different code numbers to a group of trusted contacts. The Facebook user must then obtain all of the codes sent. For example, if you have three users listed you need to obtain all three access codes.
The setup means a single user can’t access an account that is not there own, yet they can provide login help to a friend.
Facebook notes that users must still go through the security vetting process even after obtaining Trusted Contact codes.
The social network suggests that Facebook users talk to their friends on the phone or in person to avoid information phishing from email scams.
Facebook notifies users that they have been selected for the Trusted Contacts program, ensuring they are ready to take action when the time arrives.
With Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks being hacked on the regular this is yet another attempt at protecting users in the age of two-step authentication.
This seems like a reasonable idea. What I'm understanding is that this won't replace having to ID random pictures from friends' albums though, which is annoying.
Plus pictures can be 'hacked' a bit with TinEye and even Google Images which is getting better at identifying picture matches 🙂
Sounds like a good idea!
Sounds like a good idea… people could add their spouse, etc.