What the Tech: Locked out of your Facebook account? Use your face to get back in
By JAMIE TUCKER Consumer Technology Reporter
If you’ve ever been locked out of your Facebook account, you know the frustration of trying to regain access. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is now rolling out a new solution that uses facial recognition technology.
But is this a good idea?
The Problem of Locked Accounts
The number of people who get locked out of Facebook is mindblowing. Over 300,000 Facebook accounts are hacked every day. Add to that the countless users who simply forget their passwords, and you have a massive problem. Meta’s current account recovery process can be cumbersome and often unsuccessful.
Meta’s new solution involves taking a video selfie. This selfie is then compared to your profile
photo using facial recognition technology. If there’s a match, you can regain access to your
account.
However, this move brings back memories of Facebook’s previous foray into facial recognition. A few years ago, the company used this technology to automatically tag users in photos. This raised significant privacy concerns, leading to the program’s termination.
While Meta assures users that the video selfie will be encrypted and deleted after verification, concerns about privacy and data usage persist. Critics argue that this technology could be misused or lead to unintended consequences.
Meta is clearly trying to strike a balance between security and user experience. The company claims that facial recognition is a more efficient way to verify identity and prevent unauthorized access. However, the potential risks to privacy cannot be ignored.
What to Do If You’re Locked Out
If you find yourself locked out of your Facebook or Instagram account, you can visit facebook.com/hacked or instagram.com/hacked. If you’re not offered the video selfie option, you can upload a government ID for verification.
If you get no immediate response keep reporting the problem to the above websites and hope for the best. With some 110 million people getting locked out of their accounts every year, it may take time for a response.
Meta says using facial recognition to verify the identity of the account owner should speed up the process. If you don’t see the option right away, be patient. Facebook is rolling out the privacy feature during the testing phase.
