Facebook now offers a new security option for the Messenger app, allowing users to use Face ID and Touch ID to keep others from viewing personal messages. The social media platform, which has had to deal with user information theft, is rolling out these new steps to give consumers better means to guard sent and received personal messages. The new update goes a step beyond earlier implementations to tailor user experiences by introducing bio-metric technologies that can secure information, even if a phone is physically lost.
App Lock, the tool now available to some users to secure their Facebook Messenger app achieves this goal by integrating with the native technology and authentication settings on a device and applying the same Face and Touch ID functionality onboard to the task. While face-scanning and other bio-metrics have been named in instances of alleged personal data theft, the samples used in the Messenger application are not sent to Facebook nor are they saved. This isn't the only example of the social media site helping enable user privacy in recent months, and the timing is apt considering how frequently user information is stolen.
In a Facebook press release, the company's Product Management and Messenger Privacy and Safety Director, Jay Sullivan, described the broad security interests involved in this update. Highlighting how the team is focused on the security and privacy of Messenger calls, rooms, messages, and the recent Messenger Rooms feature. The new feature is apparently the result of users sending feedback that they'd like to have more control, particularly over their inbox and calls. Furthermore, Facebook says it will be spending additional time on these goals in the future, with a view to adding more privacy solutions soon.
Activating Face & Touch ID With App Lock
At present, the feature is available to iPhone and iPad users. For Android natives, the option is expected to arrive in the next few months. To activate these controls, simply navigate to the new Privacy settings section in Facebook Messenger and locate 'App Lock' in the menu. Clicking on the button will allow the user to integrate the same settings on their phone from a list of those available and turn them on. For more controls, the public will have to wait for Facebook to finish testing the bells and whistles before release.
Security is never a one-size fits all subject, and that's true for any big name in technology. Countless methods and even more hours are required to provide people with the best level of protection available at the time, and that's before the cost comes in. Integrating Face ID and Touch ID is a smart move as it will add an extra level of protection. For those making use of the new App Lock, the feature offers an easy-to-use, easy-to-learn method of deploying a security solution with which they're already familiar. Better still, Facebook's new feature means increased security is now just a few clicks away.
Source: Facebook