FB offers Indian women tools to protect profile photos
new delhi — Facebook has introduced new security features for women using the social media platform in India, including the ability to prevent strangers from downloading their profile pictures, the company said on Thursday.
Research by the social media giant found that some Indian women were reluctant to show their faces in their profile pictures, fearing the images could be misused.
“In our research with people and safety organisations in India, we have heard that some women choose not to share profile pictures that include their faces anywhere on the internet because they are concerned about what may happen to their photos,” said Aarati Soman, Product Manager at Facebook, in a post on Wednesday.
In response, Facebook teamed up with local activists to develop two tools that offer women greater control over their profiles and “help keep them safe online,” wrote Soman.
These tools, developed in partnership with Indian safety organisations like Centre for Social Research, Learning Links Foundation, Breakthrough and Youth Ki Awaaz are designed to give people more control over their experience and help keep them safe online.
Based on what it learns from the experience in India, the social media giant hopes to expand the feature to other countries soon.
The first safeguard — identified by a small shield and blue border on the image — prevents strangers from downloading, sharing or tagging themselves in someone else’s profile picture, or taking a screen shot of the image. The second overlays an additional design on the image that research shows dissuades people from making a copy of the image, Soman added.
“Other people will no longer be able to download, share or send your profile picture in a message on Facebook. People you are not friends with on Facebook won’t be able to tag anyone, including themselves, in your profile picture,” Soman clarified.
Where possible, Facebook would prevent others from taking a screenshot of a profile picture on Facebook — the feature currently available only on Android devices.
“Based on preliminary tests, we’ve learned that when someone adds an extra design layer to their profile picture, other people are at least 75 per cent less likely to copy that picture,” Soman said.
If someone suspects that a picture marked with one of these designs is being misused, they can report it to Facebook and we will use the design to help determine whether it should be removed from our community, she added.
“These tools will be available to both men and women as they continue to roll out more broadly,” a Facebook spokesman said. Facebook has 184 million active monthly users in India, its second-largest market after the US. — IANS, AFP