Meta locks out people who failed to activate Facebook Protect

Several Facebook users took to Twitter, complaining about the spam-like notification in an email titled "Your account requires advanced security from Facebook Protect", which they did not open due to privacy concerns.

New Delhi: Facebook is locking out people who did not activate the ‘Facebook Protect’ programme and the users complain that that company sent a mysterious, spam-like email which they ignored for security reasons.

Several Facebook users took to Twitter, complaining about the spam-like notification in an email titled “Your account requires advanced security from Facebook Protect”, which they did not open due to privacy concerns.

“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,” one affected user tweeted late on Friday.

The Facebook email told the users that they were required to turn on the Facebook Protect feature by a certain date, or they would be locked out of their account.

According to the social network, Facebook Protect is a “security programme for groups of people that are more likely to be targeted by malicious hackers, such as human rights defenders, journalists, and government officials”.

The first deadline was March 17 and now, several people are being locked out of their Facebook accounts. Some can’t even get in even if they turned the feature on.

“Dear @FacebookApp: Your new Facebook Protect, which I didn’t ask for, keeps texting me an identical two-factor verification code, which continues to not work. I’m now effectively locked out of my account. This is heightened security? Guess I’ll spend more time on Twittera,” another user said in a tweet.

Some other users complained that they couldn’t get through the activation process even before the deadline and so are effectively locked out of their accounts.

“This Facebook protect thing is so annoying because it’s not letting me turn it on and I need Facebook for work so I’m really hoping Facebook fixes the stupid code,” one affected user posted.

The company was yet to comment on sending spam-like notifications on Facebook Protect.