Worried by the persistent complains on theft of profile pictures by scammers and other unscrupulous individuals, Facebook is testing additional security measures aimed at stopping people from stealing users' profile pictures.
On Wednesday, Facebook announced the introduction of new tools designed to protect people's images from theft — preventing others from downloading them or even making screenshots of the images. The new security feature means that people will no longer be able to download, share, send your picture or take a screenshot of your profile picture on the platform.
It will also mean that people who you aren’t friends with won’t be able to tag people in your profile photo. However, this feature currently works only on Android phones and is being test run in India.
Commenting on the development, Facebook product manager Arati Soman wrote in a blog post "In our research with people and safety organizations in India, we’ve heard that some women choose not to share profile pictures that include their faces anywhere on the internet because they’re concerned about what may happen to their photos."
“The new profile picture guard tool, which is being piloted in India, does four key things. It stops people from downloading your profile picture, or sharing it, or sending it in a Facebook message. It stops non-friends from tagging anyone including themselves in it. It stops people taking screenshots (where possible, which is only on Android smartphones at the moment). The post added that the new security feature adds "a blue border and shield around your profile picture as a visual cue of protection."
Meanwhile, Vigil360 understands that these new tools are currently only available in India. Although the platform says it plans to expand it to other countries, a mail sent to Arati Soman, requesting for further details and possible next destinations have not been replied.
