- Image via Wikipedia
In a bid to improve safety and make it easier to log on to Facebook from public computers, the social-networking site is offering temporary log-ins to its users. Facebook hopes that by providing one-time passwords to users who browse in places such as hotels, cafes or airports, it will be able to prevent hackers from accessing user-accounts. Consequently, users can receive text messages with a one-time password to use instead of their regular passwords.
How It Works
Users of the system must have a mobile phone number registered to their Facebook account. Once the phone number has been confirmed, you can then text the words ‘otp’ to 32665 (U.S. only) in order to receive a temporary password which will expire after 20 minutes, from Facebook.
In addition, Facebook has also launched another new feature that will allow users who forget to sign out from the social network to be able to do so remotely.The session control, which can be accessed from the Account Settings, can be useful to people who log into Facebook from a friend’s phone or external PC and then forget to sign out. There are however concerns over the safety of the temporary log-in system for example, criminals may be able to log in to one’s account through a missing or stolen handset.
The service will be rolled out gradually and is expected to be available to everyone in the coming weeks.
Talking Point
Do you have any concerns about Facebook’s temporary log-ins?