AMBER Alert Coming Soon To The iPhone

Jonathan Zdziarski, an iPhone developer and data forensics expert, has teamed up with AMBER Alert to create an iPhone application that allows users to receive detailed AMBER Alerts on their iPhone. As you all may know, AMBER Alerts are used to help authorities recover a child who is believed to have been abducted and in danger of serious harm. AMBER Alerts are usually issued when the child is 17 years of age or younger and enough information exists to warrant a broadcast. AMBER Alert for the iPhone will be the official notification tool for amberalert.com. The application will provide:

"a real-time feed of recent alerts including victim photos and information, suspect photos and descriptions, vehicle photos and descriptions, and a reporting mechanism allowing you to report a sighting."

Users will be able to report sightings directly from the application, and it will use the iPhone's GPS to include the position where the sighting occurred. With GPS locations included, information can be filtered faster for smarter policing, helping rule out false positives. The information will then be forwarded to the appropriate authorities to further assist in the recovery of the missing child. Other developers will be able to make their applications AMBER Aware, allowing the application to utilize background tasks to check for new alerts and information. Developers can aid in saving children's lives simply by including this ability. The application will be free of charge and should be available shortly at the App Store, pending approval. [via cnet]

Related articles