Facebook: New changes could lock you out of your account

Social media platform, Facebook has introduced some changes that you need to be aware of lest you get locked out of your account. The company is no longer going to support the emergency feature that made it possible for designated friends and family to help you log back in if you lost access to your account for whatever reason.

No more trusted contacts

Trusted contact is an emergency feature introduced by Facebook to help in cases where users may have forgotten their passwords. This was particularly helpful if your Facebook profile is linked to an email address you longer use. It also offered some level of security if you’ve been targeted by hackers.

But now, it would appear support for the feature will be discontinued following a recurring alert that most users receive telling them to ‘review your security to help prevent being locked out’, The Sun reports.

To ensure this, Facebook is asking users to ensure that their email address and phone number are still in use before they close the curtains on the trusted contacts feature. On Facebook’s support page, it says:

Trusted contacts is no longer supported. This means that your chosen friends will no longer be able to help you get back on Facebook if you lose access to your account. Make sure that your email address and phone number are up-to-date in your account settings.

No reason

It is unclear why this feature is being removed, but it is safe to say that the other measures being introduced will provide as much security. So you should not ignore those alerts to update your email address and phone number.

Make sure that your email address and phone number are up-to-date in your account settings.

These steps take less than a minute and can help you regain access to your account in case you get locked out.

Sources used:

The Sun: Millions of Facebook users warned of settings change that could leave you locked out of account

AZ Central: Facebook’s ‘Trusted Contacts’ feature is going away; what you need to know

Screen Rant: Facebook's Trusted Contacts Is Going Away - Here Are The Best Alternatives