Facebook users in India can now lock profiles from non-friends

Social media giant Facebook on Thursday launched a new safety feature in India that will allow users, especially women, to lock their profiles from non-friends.

The ability to lock the profile is specially designed for women who want more control over their Facebook experience.

"We are deeply aware of the concerns people in India, particularly women, have about protecting their online profile. Today, we are announcing a new feature which, in one easy step, will give people a lot more control, ensure their privacy and keep them safe and secure online," Ankhi Das, Public Policy Director, Facebook India, said in a statement.

Locking profile enables users to apply multiple existing privacy settings plus several new features to their Facebook profile.

To enable the feature, a user has to tap 'More' under their name on Facebook profile then select 'Lock Profile' and tap again to confirm.

Once profile is locked non-friends cannot zoom into, share or download user's full-size profile picture and cover photo as well as non-friends cannot see photos and posts on locked account timeline (both historic and new).