Have you ever wondered how Facebook found out that you know certain people and suggest them as friends for you to add?
This is also because of the phone number registered for two-factor authentication – but the good news is that soon, Mark Zuckerberg’s social network will no longer be able to do that.
Midway through the year, after the FTC fined the social media giant $ 5 billion for privacy violations, part of the court settlement required Facebook to increase privacy protections, so the company is being forced to make some changes.
The first countries where the new policy will come into force (later this week) include Ecuador, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Libya, and Cambodia – in the rest of the world change is expected to start in early 2020.
Importantly, the policy will only take effect for new users who enable two-factor authentication (existing users will need to delete their number and add it again).
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is undoubtedly one of the best ways to protect your account from intrusion. If users have 2FA enabled, they will need to confirm access to free login, so it is more difficult to secure unauthorized access.
It is unfortunate that extra privacy and security end up costing Facebook users even more information – which apparently is deliberately used by the company.
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Twitter has also been fined for using phone numbers and emails that should provide extra security to deliver targeted ads to its users.