Computer security firm McAfee has released free public beta version of its Social Protection, a new app for Facebook that protects users’ photos from being shared without their permission.
McAfee Social Protection will offer users the flexibility to select friends to have access to their photos and make pictures appear blurry to those who don’t have access to see them. It is offered as a Facebook app together with a browser plug-in.
The new app will offer a safe platform for users to share photos and it allow only friends who have been granted access to just view the photos, but they were not allowed to share, copy, print or take screenshots of them.
It also disables the save and download feature, displaying a padlock icon over the picture when a user scrolls over it. The lock feature is possible because when users upload protected photos through the app, those files go onto McAfee, rather than Facebook servers.
The app was developed by Intel’s Software and Services Group as a collaboration between Intel and McAfee.
McAfee Consumer Product Management senior vice president Brian Foster said as consumers continue to share more of their lives online through the photos they post to Facebook, they become increasingly vulnerable to the privacy pitfalls associated with not being able to fully control where their photos end up.
"McAfee Social Protection helps to further underscore our commitment to safeguarding consumer’s safety, data and identities online," Foster said.
The new app is available as a Facebook app and browser plug-in for PCs using Internet Explorer 8 or higher and Firefox 8 and higher.
