The Netherlands uses ATMs to notify people of missing children

In a novel and unique way, the Netherlands police department is making use of ATM machines to display alerts about missing children. So far, about 300 ATM machines manufactured by In2Retail are being used. These are primarily situated in airports, places of tourist attraction, shopping malls, etc. The initiative marks the country as a first for this approach.

If the idea works, the authorities might expand to cover the entire nation eventually. The selected ATMs are displaying two types of missing children alerts which are: a serious kind Amber Alert and another Dutch-specific Vermist Kind Alert. The Amber Alert is the more serious kind and is issued when the life of the child is believed to be in immediate danger.

When an Amber Alert is issued, it’s widespread and sent out on SMS and also as Facebook notifications. The AmberAlert.eu says the there were totally 26 alerts of 30 missing children across Europe and 97 percent of them were recovered successfully. Both the security alerts will show the child’s headshot and other details of name, age, etc. The child’s last known whereabouts are also displayed to encourage people to keep a lookout.

Showing these alerts on ATMs is now part of other display posts of highway signs, websites, and billboards across the European continent and America as well. AmberAlert.eu also states that once the child is found, all the links to public information is immediately deleted.