Rumor has it that on Tuesday January 23rd, 2007, MySpace will be putting Amber Alerts onto the zip codes of members’ profiles. An Amber Alert is:

Each program establishes its own AMBER Plan criteria; however, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children suggests three criteria that should be met before an Alert is activated.

• law enforcement confirms a child has been abducted
• law enforcement believes the circumstances surrounding the abduction indicate that the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death
• there is enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspect‘s vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help

If these criteria are met, alert information must be put together for public distribution. This information can include descriptions and pictures of the missing child, the suspected abductor, a suspected vehicle, and any other information available and valuable to identifying the child and suspect.

This marks the start of a proactive step that MySpace must make, especially considering the recent lawsuit against them, at making an attempt to keep children as safe as they can. I’m still a believer that more must be done in the household; however this is clearly a positive step in the right direction.

Resources:
http://www.codeamber.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_alert

Nothing has officially been posted on the MySpace page yet.