Facebook launches ‘Lock Profile’ feature in India to hide posts from non-friends

Locking your profile enables you to apply multiple existing privacy settings plus several new features to your Facebook profile.
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Facebook has launched a new safety feature in India that allows users to lock their profile. The ability to lock your profile is a feature designed for people in India, especially women, who want more control over their Facebook experience, Facebook said in a statement.

Locking your profile enables you to apply multiple existing privacy settings plus several new features to your Facebook profile. This feature will be rolled out over the next two weeks.

When a user locks his or her profile, non-friends cannot zoom into, share or download the person’s full-size profile picture and cover photo. They will also not be able to see photos and posts on the user’s timeline (both historic and new).

Enabling this feature will also mean that users cannot post anything publicly. When they try to do so, a pop-up message will appear to remind them that their profile is locked.

An indicator is added to the user’s profile page to remind them that their profile is locked. And when non friends try to open the profile, they will not be able to see more than the profile picture icon of the user on the page.

To turn on this feature, from your profile, users have to tap on ‘More’ under your name, tap on ‘Lock Profile’ and tap on Lock Your Profile again to confirm.

Facebook first introduced profile picture guard in 2017, which when turned on, wouldn’t allow non-friends from sharing the picture, downloading it or even taking a screenshot. The profile lock, the company has said, is an extension of this feature.

And while there are privacy settings that exist already allowing users to select who can view a post of picture, the profile lock features is an overall safety feature allowing users to lock their entire profile at one time.

Ankhi Das, Public Policy Director, Facebook India says, “We are committed to providing a safe platform for people to express themselves. We are deeply aware of the concerns people in India, particularly women, have about protecting their online profile. Today, we are announcing a new feature which, in one easy step, will give people a lot more control, ensure their privacy and keep them safe and secure online.”

“We have often heard from young girls that they are hesitant to share about themselves online and are intimidated by the idea of someone misusing their information. I am very happy to see that Facebook is making efforts to learn about their concerns and building products that can give them the experience they want. This new safety feature will give women, especially young girls a chance to express themselves freely.” - Ranjana Kumari, Director, Centre for Social Research.

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