HYDERABAD: Facebook has launched a new feature that allows users to lock their profile so that the people who are not in the users' friends list can't view their posts or photos or download their profile picture and cover photo. Ankhi Das, Public Policy Director at Facebook India said, "We are deeply aware of the concerns people in India, particularly women, have about protecting their online profile.”

Facebook Product Manager Roxna Irani said that, "We started first with the profile, because that was the picture that women were most nervous about being downloaded and shared. And so that’s when we first launched profile picture guard. And then over time, we realised it extends beyond the current profile picture to other photos as well".

The feature is available in the 'More Options' category in profile where users will have to tap on 'Lock Profile'. The users will be able to see just the profile photos of the person and will not be able to zoom into or view anything else on the page after the profile lock is enabled. A blue badge on the photo indicates that the profile is locked. If any user has activated this 'Lock Profile' feature, then they will not be able to post publicly, and a pop up appears reminding the user that the profile is locked. One has to unlock the profile to post a public post.

Ranjana Kumari, director at New Delhi-based women advocacy group Centre for Social Research, "Very often, young girls are hesitant to share about themselves online and are intimidated by the idea of someone misusing their information.” She further added that she is very happy to see that Facebook has come up with a new feature that can give the women the experience they want and this new safety feature will give women, especially young girls a chance to express themselves freely.

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