Facebook seems to be testing a new way for its users to authenticate their identity: Facial recognition. The feature was spotted in the wild and when asked to comment, Facebook promptly confirmed that it is testing it. 

Facial recognition sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s starting to pick up speed, especially in terms of user authentication on mobile devices. At this time, most of the major smartphone manufacturers have added the feature to their flagship devices. And despite its pitfalls, facial recognition seems to be gaining traction. On the other hand, fingerprint authentication seems to be losing its appeal – at least on mobile devices.

However, facial recognition as a means of unlocking your social accounts hasn’t been done before. Facebook is changing that.

When asked to comment, a Facebook spokesperson confirmed the existence of the test, explaining: We are testing a new feature for people who want to quickly and easily verify account ownership during the account recovery process.

They also explained that the feature is optional, and is “available only on devices you’ve already used to log in” as “another step, alongside two-factor authentication via SMS,” for rightful account owners can confirm their identities during account recovery.