Facebook officially admitted today that there is a problem with the theft of profile pictures in his social network, but for this there have been reports for a very long time. Because the world began to complain more and more, those from Facebook started testing in India a system designed to prevent the theft of profile pictures from the social network.
Facebook has activated for some people a function called profile picture guard, preventing our profile picture from being saved on other people's computers. Facebook knows that this is only part of the problem, so it would also have found a method to prevent the theft of profile pictures by blocking the possibility of taking a screenshot for the pictures.
The ban on taking a screenshot applies only to Facebook's Android application, but this can also be applied to the iPhone. Moreover, in order to prevent the theft of profile pictures, the people at Facebook also forbid pirates to tag themselves in our profile pictures, even if we allow this through the security settings.
Facebook prevents the theft of profile pictures
Facebook will also display a blue border and a shield around our profile picture to let people know that that picture is protected. Because this is not enough, Facebook will also allow the application of some graphic changes to the photos, because it is unlikely that they will be stolen by people with bad intentions.
Facebook made the decision to prevent the theft of profile pictures after learning that some women in India are afraid to share pictures with them. The fear is based on the fact that their pictures can be stolen and used on various websites that promote prostitution or the sale of women, in other situations they are even reused on Facebook for albums dedicated to men.
"Today, we are piloting new tools that give people in India more control over who can download and share their profile pictures. In addition, we're exploring ways people can more easily add designs to profile pictures, which our research has shown to be helpful in deterring misuse. Based on what we learn from our experience in India, we hope to expand to other countries soon."
Those from Facebook have only now begun to weave the new function, but if it will be successful in India, then they will expand it to other locations on the planet. Of course, in applications for mobile phones and tablets it is easy to have such functions to prevent the theft of Facebook photos, but the situation is much more complicated on computers, where these restrictions are almost impossible to impose.
What do you think about this new function of Facebook?
Published by Facebook Safety on Tuesday, June 20, 2017