Facebook Highlights Two-Factor Authentication in Security Settings Redesign

Facebook is hoping to make adjusting security settings as easy for users as sharing photos, videos or liking their friends’ posts across the social networking service. Facebook said its team conducted research and found most people aren’t sure how their security settings work, or how to start improving the way they protect their personal information.

To address this security challenge, it has moved Trusted Contacts to the top of the security page, for instance, and renamed “login approvals” to the more commonly used “two-factor authentication.” Though it may sound like a more complex term for your average online user, many consumers have likely already been exposed to the concept of two-factor authentication for services they use at work. The International Business Times explained it means Facebook will use text messages that allow customers to approve a login with a verification code before anyone can access their account.

Given how many people are now using Facebook on a mobile device, SecurityWeek noted the company has also changed the “Where You’re Logged In” section of its security settings page. Login location, device, date and time are all laid out in a way that allows consumers to review these details at a glance rather than needing to hunt around for the information.

A New Standard for Security Settings

The changes to its security settings is just part of an ongoing effort by Facebook to encourage more proactive approaches to safeguarding personal data. As Engadget pointed out, Facebook created a set of interactive guides that were published in its Privacy Basics area earlier this year, which allow users to look at their preferences and make adjustments for particular kinds of posts and groups that see them.

BetaNews questioned whether the changes will boost the overall trust in Facebook among the public, but it’s clear the company is no longer leaving anything to chance. Instead, the design of the security setting pages will immediately advise account holders of the available options rather than expecting them to sift through the details themselves. For example, a “Recommended” box will offer suggestions to protect information based on a user’s habits.

Facebook has always been in the business of connecting friends, and it’s now making data protection a friendlier process.

Shane Schick

Writer & Editor

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A New Standard for Security Settings

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