Facebook today released a security feature called “Trusted Contacts” as an optional way for people to recover their passwords with the help of their trusted friends.
The company first introduced the concept to a small test group in 2011 under the name “trusted friends.” Facebook has renamed it “trusted contacts” and increased security.
Trusted Contacts allows you to specify three to five Facebook friends to help you regain account access. In case of a security breach,Facebook will send security codes to the friends you selected, and they can then pass along those codes to you. It’s basically an alternative to answering numerous security questions to prove your identity.
“With Trusted Contacts, there’s no need to worry about remembering the answer to your security question or filling out long web forms to prove who you are,” Facebook explained in a blog post.