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Facebook "Trusted Contacts" Lets You Pester Friends To Recover Account Access
alphadogg writes "Facebook Thursday said it's making available globally a feature called 'Trusted Contacts' that lets users select three to five friends who can help users recover account access such as if they forget their password. Facebook said the idea is that once these friends are identified as 'trusted contacts' through the user's security settings, Facebook will provide each of them with a special code. 'Enter the codes from [at least 3 of] your trusted contacts, and you'll be able to access your account,' Facebook says. 'After you set your trusted contacts, we'll notify them so that they can be ready to help you if you ever need it.'"
While I'd hope that people would trust their friends to not abuse a privileged position in order to gain access to one's account, it's probably a good idea to pick friends from different, non-overlapping social circles to make it difficult for them to know who other "trusted" people for one's account are.
I agree, I find this an excellent password recovery scheme. It does not protect against a bad choice in friends, but there are no technical protections possible against that. But for password recovery it is very good and quite safe against abuse by anonymous internet hackers.
It's also excellent at providing Facebook data which of your friends are close friends. Very useful to charge advertisers more for fake likes from trusted friends who are more likely to have a bigger impact.
Sound like a good idea in theory, and it would also allow close friends to close an account of a departed one.
I know previously this can be distressing to contact facebook admins, and convince them that this is a valid request.