Q: I’m locked out of my Facebook account and it says I have to upload a photo ID to get back to it. Is this right?
ANSWER: Facebook, the world’s most popular social network with an estimated 2.7 million users every day.
For many of those users, almost everything Facebook does has to be automated to deal with the huge volume and one of these processes is marking accounts.
There are a number of reasons that can lead to the suspension of your account, ranging from violating one of its rules to suspicious login.
What has considered a violation of Facebook’s social standards or terms of service is a matter of constant concern, especially in the current political climate.
If their default monitoring system detects that you have logged in to your account frequently from new locations, it can also lock the account down to ensure that your information is not stolen.
It is also possible for someone to report your profile as an incorrect account or post associated with your profile as harassment or spam.
If you join multiple groups and post many of them daily, it is likely that the system may think you are spam users, especially if it is the same post directly on each group page.
You may also be asked to upload an ID to verify your real name, as it is one of Facebook’s terms of service, so using a nickname can cause problems in some cases.
Facebook lock protection
Shutting down, especially for those who manage multiple Facebook pages or use Facebook login via services like Spotify, can be very disruptive.
Fortunately, there is a practical step everyone can take to help simplify the process if you have been locked out of your account.
Back in 2013, Facebook introduced a feature called ‘Trusted Contacts’ specially designed to help users who are being hacked out of their accounts.
[Here is the Step to follow–> Go to Settings –>> ‘Security and Login’ and click the [edit button] next to –> ‘Choose 3 to 5 friends to contact when you are locked out. ]
In case you are locked out, Facebook has a default process that will generate special access codes that only trusted previous contacts can access, so you will need to follow the recovery instructions carefully.
Additional security action
An important security measure that can reduce the chances of your account being taken by a thief is installing two-factor authentication, which is in the same ‘Security and Access’ menu.
This will register your phone number on Facebook as an account holder and send a code to that number whenever you log in to your account from a device or location that Facebook does not recognize.
Once activated, this could mean that the thief will not only need to steal your username and password, they will also have to put their hands on your phone while they try to sign in.
