Facebook announced during this day the implementation of an extremely important function in its applications and in the web version of its website, the company is now displaying messages for the so-called AMBER Alerts. These AMBER Alerts are alerts for missing children in the USA and are displayed in partnership with an American federal agency that establishes the existence of these cases.
Considering the importance of this type of messages, the company Facebook displays in the users' timelines, all the information that is made available to them in connection with a case of the disappearance of a child. From a picture of the child to various information regarding the physical appearance, age or last location where he was seen, the alert will help users identify a missing child, if necessary.
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.
Alerts of this kind will only be shown to users who live in the area where the disappearance was reported, or are located in that area, so not everyone will see them. Moreover, unlike the similar system implemented in iOS 8, users will not receive notifications for these alerts, but will see the messages in the timeline of the Facebook application.
For now, the system is only in operation in the USA, where there is the necessary infrastructure to quickly bring these cases to the attention of the population, but it will probably be extended to other countries if there is interest from the governments.
