Looks like Instagram is going to be advancing its technology to sound off Amber Alerts as a new in-app feature.
Canadians everywhere have become familiar with receiving emergency and government alerts on iPhone devices. While these alerts can be shocking to receive at first, they serve an important purpose:
- Alerts issued by your country or region's government
- Alerts involving imminent threats to safety or life
- Alerts for extreme weather conditions
- AMBER alerts (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response)*
- Public Safety Alerts*
- And so on.
Given how crucial these alerts are, Instagram has decided to jump on board with being one of the major broadcasters of AMBER alerts.
Users will receive important information about the missing child, their photo, location of abduction and any other information that can help find the person. In addition, users will be able to share the information with their friends and family directly from their feed.
Source: Instagram
“These alerts are rare and specific to the search area. If you get one, it means there is an active search for a missing child nearby. In order to know who to show these alerts to, we use a variety of signals, including the city you list on your profile, your IP address and location services (if you have it turned on),” they shared in a statement.
This new feature began rolling out on June 1st and will continue to rollout in 25 different countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Ireland, Jamaica, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, Ukraine, the UK, the United Arab Emirates, the US, and so on.