Facebook has announced a partnership with child abduction alert system AMBER Alert, to push notifications of loss children onto U.S. users news feed, if in a nearby location.

The new program will launch on Tuesday to over 185 million active U.S. Facebook users, and the alerts will automatically appear, depending on geo-location.

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Amber Alert originally used local media to help spread the word of lost children, now the organisation is looking for more ways to get the message to locals.

People in the local area may also receive texts on the missing child.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) claims Amber Alert has helped police find 728 children, since it first was pushed into law through Congress in 2003.

Facebook will push all information to the news feed, showing photographs, age and other identification. Emily Vacher, Trust and Safety Manager for Facebook Security, claims the security alert will automatically show up and users should see between 1 and 2 alerts per year.

"It's people in the community who see things and share things," Vacher said. "I like to think about this as the world's largest community watch. It's giving the people in the community the tools they need to find a missing child."

This is the first major connection between Facebook and U.S. authority, and shows Facebook is willing to work with the U.S. on security issues in the country. In the next few years, we may see missing people and wanted criminals show up on the news feed. 

TagsAmber Alert, missing children, U.S. police force