Facebook Building New Feature To Detect Impersonation

Facebook is testing a new tool that will automatically alert users if someone is impersonating their account.

The security enhancement feature will alert the real user of the account, if an impostor is detected.

It does this by analysing account names and profile pictures, before sending an automated alert to the user if a match is made.

The user would then be asked to check whether a profile is deliberately impersonating them by using your personal information, or if it belongs to someone else who is not impersonating you, in which case the offending account could be shut down.

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The feature exploits the social network’s facial recognition technology

Facebook started testing its impersonation detection back in November, and it’s active in about 75 percent of the world with plans to expand further, says Facebook’s Head of Global Safety Antigone Davis.

“We heard feedback prior to the roundtables and also at the roundtables that this was a point of concern for women,” Davis told Mashable.

“And it’s a real point of concern for some women in certain regions of the world where it [impersonation] may have certain cultural or social ramifications.”

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Online harassment continues to be a plague on social media.

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