No doubt in response to all of the hacking instances, Facebook has added yet another security feature. This one is pretty cool. But since I am a lawyer and practice management consultant, I see interesting unintended applications for this security feature as well.
What is It?
The purpose of this feature is to show you from where your recent Facebook activity originates. This way, if you see some kind of connectivity you don’t recognize you can immediately end the activity and change your password.
And Attorneys Can Use This How?
This feature will be pretty cool for employment lawyers when your employer is complaining you spend time at work on Facebook. Or for Police looking at the fact you were typing on Facebook right before an accident. Or for your spouse’s divorce attorney when you say you were at Z location and a quick Facebook log in proves you were recently at X.
I know, I know. That’s my world view. Sorry.
Anyway.
How
Here’s how you access the information:
Click on Account
Click on Account Settings
Scroll down to Account Security
Click Change
You will see recent log-ins to your Facebook Account.
An Issue
I did find an issue. It seems to take a while for Facebook to catch up to the fact that several log-ins are going on at once. I logged in on my phone’s Facebook Application. Nothing showed up. I logged in from the Web browser on my phone. Nothing showed up. Odd given that my phone and laptop are on two different IP Addresses and services. (No for anyone wondering, my cell phone was not running through the same wifi as my laptop.)
Maybe this is why Facebook hasn’t made a big deal out of this feature yet. Perhaps they are still testing it.
A Good Facebook Catch
On the other hand, a couple of days ago when I tried to log-in using an email application that seemed to originate from another state (from which I have never logged in,) Facebook immediately sent me a warning and temporarily locked my account. The unlock process was quite easy. Kudos on that, Facebook.
We’ll have to see how the tool develops over time.