The ‘Facebook Profile Lock’ and How Filipinos Can Do It Locally

Can you actually “lock” your Facebook profile from the Philippines? We did a little research and some firsthand attempts, and we found out that indeed, you can!

But, why would you lock Facebook profiles, let alone your own, in the first place? What’s more, how different is it from simply deactivating or even deleting your account on the social media platform altogether? Sure, you can also simply restrict who can view your profile or what sort of information others may access from the page. But that also has its limitations.

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What locking a Facebook account does for you

While the above options are available and offer merits to anyone who’d like added privacy for their Facebook account, they are either a bit extreme or involve too much work. Built to address these issues, a thing called Facebook Profile Lock allows only people you know to access whatever’s written or posted on your profile in one go.

Known as the Facebook Profile Lock feature, this modern security feature prevents Facebook users from changing anything in their privacy settings one by one. Meanwhile, restricted people can’t click on things like your display picture, cover photo, and profile feed itself. Your account is basically just an image in a museum — visible but virtually untouchable!

Word is that it’s unavailable in many countries as of writing, including the Philippines. But a few tricks by one of TripZilla’s local writers, Danielle Uy, proved that it can still be done. Anyone has the right to privacy and security in social media after all, right?

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How to lock Facebook profiles if you’re in the Philippines

According to Danielle, she simply changed her location to another country. “Apparently the Facebook Profile Lock feature isn’t available for Philippine users yet, so I had to pretend to be Burmese to try it,” she shared. When she successfully locked her profile, she shared that it works as though it’s on freeze mode. Her non-friends are unable to click her profile completely!

An article by Tech Pilipinas likewise revealed a more detailed workaround to try the feature from in the Philippines. According to writer Luis Reginaldo Medilo, the user must have the Facebook Lite app. Once you’ve logged in, go to “Menu,” then “Settings.” From the options, click “Account Settings,” followed by “Translation for Posts.”

From the languages shown, select the seventh to the last in the list, which is Burmese. Once Facebook Lite’s language changes, go back to “View your profile” in the main menu. When you’re in your profile, click the three tiny dots on the right side of the page. From the next set of options that appear, choose the one with the shield sign next to it.

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On the next page, click the blue button, which will finally have your profile locked. Tech Pilipinas also shared how to revert the feature. To unlock your profile, tap the three dots again and pick “Unlock Profile.” From this point on, the option to activate the Facebook Profile Lock can be done using the regular Facebook app, and you don’t need to repeat the same steps above!

Featured image credit: Solen Feyissa| Unsplash