Facebook Is Testing A Tool To Alert Users Of Imposter Accounts

facebook-security-2Facebook is working on a new feature that will automatically alert users if there is another account impersonating them and using their name or profile picture.

When the tool detects a potential imposter, it will send users a notification alert. Users will then be prompted to determine if the account is an imposter or not. This notification process will be automated, but Facebook says that its team will manually review all flagged profiles. Perhaps most surprisingly, Facebook says that the feature is already live in about 75% of the world and will expand even further in the near future.

While this tool is incredibly helpful for all Facebook users, it’s particularly impactful for women around the world who face imposter profiles as a form of serious—and potentially endangering—harassment.

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,” Facebook’s Head of Global Safety Antigone Davis told Mashable.

As a result of these roundtable discussions about protecting women, Facebook also said it will develop new ways to report nonconsensual intimate images.

These steps, though seemingly small, could go a long way toward curbing Facebook harassment and privacy invasion.