Facebook has started testing new tools in India to give privacy-conscious individuals more control over who can download and share their profile photos.
Facebook announced yesterday that it has begun testing new tools in India to give privacy-conscious individuals more control over who can download and share their profile photos. The company also said that they hope to expand these features to other countries soon, based on what they learn from their experience in India.
In a recent blog post, Facebook product manager Aarati Soman said :
Profile pictures are an important part of building community on Facebook because they help people find friends and create meaningful connections. But not everyone feels safe adding a profile picture. 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.
These tools, developed in partnership with Indian safety organizations like Centre for Social Research, Learning Links Foundation, Breakthrough and Youth Ki Awaaz, are designed to give people more control over their experience and help keep them safe online.
“Based on preliminary tests, we’ve learned that when someone adds an extra design layer to their profile picture, other people are at least 75 percent less likely to copy that picture,” Soman wrote.
“If someone suspects that a picture marked with one of these designs is being misused, they can report it to Facebook and we will use the design to help determine whether it should be removed from our community,” she added.