The AMBER Alert network in your area is about to get more effective.
Social networking giant Facebook announced today that it would be teaming up with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to provide AMBER Alerts through its official iOS app, as well as through its official website.
As you may know, iOS will already pass alerts through to a user about missing and exploited children reported in their area by default. The option, though, can be switched off under iOS’s Settings app.
The new AMBER Alert functionality in the Facebook app would be a layer of redundancy, and would also be more fully featured than the default iOS AMBER Alert system, providing photos and other details about missing children, as well as allowing users to share the alert with their friends.
Here’s how Facebook describes the system:
When local or state police determine that a case qualifies for an AMBER Alert, the alert is issued by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and distributed through the Facebook system with any available information, including a photograph of the missing child, a license plate number, the name and description of the child and suspected abductor.
Although some people are annoyed by AMBER Alerts, the system works: over 725 kids have been saved from harm due to the program since its launch in 1996. And hey, if you really are such a bastard you don’t want to be alerted when a kid in your area has been kidnapped? You can just shut the alerts off.
Source: Facebook
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
3 responses to “The official Facebook app for iOS will now provide AMBER Alerts”
As long as I can turn it off, that’s fine. My iPhone already does this.
Who uses stupid facebook
If it saves just one life, it will have proven itself to be a very worthwhile idea. I think
social networks can help in many other situations; for example, in finding criminals.
They must continue to work in this direction.