DURBAN - Facebook has introduced selfies as a login option for authentication of suspicious activity.
The social networking site is asking some of their users to upload a photo of themselves to authenticate their identities.
However the feature is not completely new to Facebook as users on Reddit and in Facebook's help section have said that they have used it as early as April.
The screen will cue users with a message "Please upload a photo of yourself which clearly shows your face. When you send us a photo, we'll check it and then permanently delete it from our servers".
This feature is available worldwide and is meant to aid Facebook to "catch suspicious activity at various points of interaction on the site, including "creating an account, sending Friend requests, setting up ad payments, and creating or editing ads" according to an official statement to The Verge.
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It is an automated process that happens when a user tries one of these activities or is found to have more than one account and it only works if the user adds an original photo that has not been uploaded to Facebook before. While the photo goes under analysis the user will not be able to log in until Facebook contacts them again after 72 hours.
The social media company has also released new tools that can aid in people keeping each other safe.
The news tools are:
Mentorship and support
Mentees and mentors get together to link up with each other and go through a guided programme.
Eliminating nonprofit fees
100% of donations made via Facebook payments to nonprofits will go to the organisations.
Facebook Donations Fund
$50 million yearly fund for 2018 to aid communities recovering from disaster through direct contributions.
Charitable giving tools expansion
People can form fundraisers.
Fundraisers API
People will be able to sync their off-Facebook fundraising to their Facebook fundraisers.
Community Help API
Disaster response organisations can connect to Community Help data.
Blood donations feature
This feature links blood banks and hospitals to donors through blood donation events.