Facebook teams up with the Police to send missing child alerts to users in Romania

Facebook’s Amber Alert system, which helps authorities find missing children by distributing alerts to people’s News Feeds, was also launched in Romania in partnership with the Romanian Police, Hotnews.ro reported. These alerts will include detailed information and a photo of the missing child.

Romania is the 24th country in the world to join the Facebook Amber Alert program. The system operates in two Central and Eastern European countries: Bulgaria and Lithuania.

The Amber Alerts will be delivered to the News Feed of people in targeted search areas and include photographs and any available information about the missing child. The alert may also include information about the person suspected of abduction if such data are known.

The Romanian Police will decide if a case qualifies for an Amber Alert. Such an alert is issued when law enforcement determines that a child has been abducted, is in danger, and has sufficient information for the entire community to help find the child. In this case, the Romanian Police will contact the Facebook security team, and Facebook will then send the alert.

Alerts will be delivered only to people in targeted search areas. For example, if a child is abducted in Cluj-Napoca, the alert will not reach people in Bucharest but will be directed only to those in the specific, limited search area, indicated by the Police, Facebook explained, according to Hotnews.

The Police said that an alert activation message sent to Facebook would be accompanied by a link to the Romanian Police’s press release about the case, which the users can access for more information.

(Photo source: Facebook/Politia Romana)