Facebook may ask you to upload a ‘clear’ selfie of yourself to prove you’re not a robot, a new report suggests.
According to a screenshot shared on social media the prompt asks user to ‘upload a photo of yourself that clearly shows your face’ under new security rules.
Some sources suggest users are even locked out of their account while they wait for their image to get checked.
According to a screenshot shared on social media the prompt asks user to ‘upload a photo of yourself that clearly shows your face’ under new security rules (pictured)
‘When our systems detect suspicious activity, we may ask for the account owner to prove she or he is a real person’, a Facebook spokesperson told MailOnline.
‘One way we do this is to ask the account owner to upload a picture of himself or herself, which we’ll check and then permanently delete from our servers.’
The spokesperson said this helps catch suspicious activity at various points of interaction on the site, including creating an account, sending Friend requests, setting up ads payments, and creating or editing ads.
It also helps determine if the account is authentic. Facebook claims that after the image has been taken it will delete it from servers.
‘Please upload a photo of yourself that clearly shows your face’, the grab reads.
‘We’ll check it and then permanently delete it from our servers’.
It is not clear for how long this technology has been being tested, but some reports suggest people have been receiving the prompts since April, writes Wired.
Facebook has not yet responded to comment about when the feature will be rolled out globally.
‘Facebook is now locking users out of account features, then demanding that those users ‘verify’ their account to get back in by scanning an image of their face. AN IMAGE OF THEIR FACE’, @flexlibris wrote
‘Facebook won’t let me login, asks for me to upload picture of myself, then says picture is ‘invalid’, Reddit user lostinthemasses.
Twitter user @flexlibris posted a screengrab of the ‘Upload A Photo Of Yourself’ request yesterday.
‘Facebook is now locking users out of account features, then demanding that those users ‘verify’ their account to get back in by scanning an image of their face. AN IMAGE OF THEIR FACE’, the user wrote.
Facebook did not share details about how the system works.
The spokesperson said this helps catch suspicious activity at various points of interaction on the site, including creating an account, sending Friend requests, setting up ads payments, and creating or editing ads (stock image)
According to another screenshot – which has now been deleted – users might be locked out of their account during verification.
‘You Can’t Log In Right Now. We’ll get in touch with you after we’ve reviewed your photo. You’ll now be logged out of Facebook as a security precaution’, the message said.
Earlier this month, Facebook was criticised for its plan to get users to send in naked pictures of themselves so the site can block revenge porn at a later date.
It emerged that employees of the firm will view the unedited sexy shots before blurring them out and creating a ‘digital fingerprint’.
But users are outraged by the plans, and say those images – even if blurred – could be leaked or kept by disgruntled Facebook employees.
Earlier this month, Facebook was criticised for its plan to get users to send in naked pictures of themselves so the site can block revenge porn at a later date. Tony Matthew said: ‘No company should ever ask anyone for nude pics to ‘safeguard’
There’s also nothing stopping spurned partners from uploading alternative naked images of their ex, as each image must be identified individually.
They could also upload the same image to other sites, such as Instagram and Twitter.
The trial, currently being tested in Australia, requires users to send naked pictures to themselves via Facebook Messenger.
Users must first report the images to the Australian government’s eSafety Commission.
Then they can upload the snap via Messenger and once a member of staff has confirmed that the image is in violation of the company’s policies.
The images will then be blurred out before they are eventually deleted.
They will be accessible to a specially-trained team only and will be automatically processed from this point onward.
Tony Matthew said: ‘No company should ever ask anyone for nude pics to “safeguard” under the guise of protection from revenge porn.
‘Hackers can hack. Disgruntled employees can leak.’