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Facebook rolls out security key option ahead of National Data Privacy Day

Posted at 8:27 AM, Jan 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-27 10:21:03-05

Saturday is National Data Privacy Day and one social media site is celebrating by giving users new options to help keep their information safe. 

In an effort to keep our profiles protected, Facebook has rolled out a security key option for the first time.

It's really just a form of two-step verification.

If you turn on the proper settings under log-in approvals on your Facebook profile, you can use a special USB stick to prove it's really you.

Say you log in from a different computer and Facebook requires verification. The code, which you'd usually receive by text, is instead generated by a security key dongle.

There are a variety on the market, one popular product is the YubiKey. It generates a unique encrypted passcode each time.

The security key is arguably a safer move, because it minimizes the possibility of a phishing attack through other methods, according to Google. 

On top of the security key feature, Facebook also updated its Privacy Basics page. General questions about your profile security can be found there - as well as how to go through a proper privacy check-up for your page.