If you are wondering why you cannot get into your account today, it’s probably because you haven’t activated Facebook Protect in your account yet. Early in March, Facebook started sending an email titled ‘Your account requires advanced security from Facebook Protect’ to select user asking them to activate Facebook Protect in their accounts by a certain date else risk getting locked out of their accounts. Also Read - Meta updates privacy policy, says Indian users can choose not to accept
The Verge notes that the email came from the address – security@facebookmail.com – which resembles a common form of spam mail and hence was ignored by a lot of users. As it turns out, the email was not a spam. It was Facebook trying to contact the high-risk users to safeguard their accounts by March 17 in order to protect themselves from getting locked out of their accounts. Now, the people who did not activate Facebook Protect before the deadline are getting messages as to why they are not able to access their accounts and what they need to do next. Also Read - WhatsApp gets Stranger Things sticker pack on Android, iOS, Desktop: How to download it
However, things are not that simple. There have been reports on Twitter wherein Facebook users who have been lock out of their accounts have despite activating the feature before the deadline. Also Read - Online learning apps collected and sold children's data to Meta and Google: Report
I got locked out from Facebook indefinitely today because I didn’t respond to emails from FB (that looked like a scam) about its new Facebook Protect system, which I was required to enable by today. So far, the text and security key options don’t work, many report. pic.twitter.com/0aXbiqzLv7
— Liv. (@Olivia_Thiessen) March 18, 2022
Some users have also reported tech issues in getting their text-base two-factor authentication codes sent on their phones.
Anyone else having major issues with Facebook protect? Completely locked out of my account. Then running into glitches and tech issues when trying to fix the problem 😑😑😑😑
— Simone De Alba (@Simone_DeAlba) March 18, 2022
Notably, Meta back in December last year announced that it would soon require its highest-risk users to protect their accounts with two-factor authentication. At the time, the company had said that its high-risk users, which includes select journalists, human right activists, government officials and other user who could be targeted by cyber criminals to turn on a feature called Facebook Protect in their profiles.
In case you haven’t turned on Facebook Protect in your account yet, here’s a step-by-step guide of what you need to do:
How to turn on Facebook Protect in your account
Step 1: Click the downward-facing arrow in the top right corner on Facebook.
Step 2: Click Settings & Privacy, then click Settings.
Step 3: Click Security and Login.
Step 4: Under Facebook Protect, click Get Started.
Step 5: On the welcome screen, click Next.
Step 6: On the Facebook Protect benefits screen, click Next.
Step 7: After that, Facebook will scan your account for potential vulnerabilities and make suggestions on what to fix as you turn on Facebook Protect.
Step 8: Click Fix Now and follow the on-screen instructions to finish turning on Facebook Protect.
