Giant online networking service, Facebook on Tuesday 14 January 17, 2015 said it introduced amber alerts on its networking platform to assist with finding missing children. The alerts will be integrated into the new feeds of the network’s 185 million U.S. users.
Facebook partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in coming up with this humanitarian initiative. Worth noting is that alerts are only fed to users whose areas are targeted.
How does it work?
The Amber Alerts are available on both desktop and mobile devices. They can also be shared among users. The system allows photographs and other details of the missing children to be included. Apart from that, the system also includes a license plate number, then name and description of both the child and the suspected abductor. Despite appearing in user’s news feeds, the alerts don’t prompt any phone notifications.
How does a case qualify for an Amber Alert?
Much information is required for a case to be eligible for an Amber Alert; apart from that the alert won’t do any good
Emily Vacher, a trust and safety manager at Facebook said, “In 2014, an 11 year old girl was safely recovered after a motel owner recognized her from an Amber Alert that a friend had shared on Facebook. The woman called the police and the child was found”
She added, “It’s an amazing word-of-mouth efforts like this that inspired us to develop a more systematic way to help find missing children on Facebook.”