The Facebook Blog

• Childnet International is a UK-based charity working domestically and internationally to help make the Internet a great and safe place for children and young people, alongside enabling them to use interactive technologies safely and responsibly. Childnet has developed a number of resources designed to help young people and parents assess and manage the risks that they may encounter online.


• Common Sense Media is an independent non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing trustworthy information and education that kids and families need to thrive in a world of media and technology.


• Connect Safely is the leading interactive resource on the web for parents, teens, educators—everyone—engaged and interested in youth safety on the fixed and mobile social web.


• The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) works to make the online world safer for kids and their families by identifying and promoting best practice, tools and methods in the field of online safety, that also respect free expression.


• WiredSafety is the largest online safety, education and help group program in the world and provides help, information and education to Internet and mobile device users of all ages, especially on cyberbullying matters.

Just as we hope you'll never stop thinking about your own safety online, we won't stop thinking about—and improving—yours.


Joe, Facebook's chief security officer and a parent of three girls, is reading advice for parents in the new Safety Center.

Detectives routinely handle this type of issue—almost a million American kids run away each year. But the girl in this case was unusually young and it was the second time she'd been missing. Previously, she had communicated with family and friends, at least reassuring them that she was relatively safe and had Internet access. After three weeks, she was spotted by the parent of a friend, who returned her home.

This time, she had been gone longer and hadn't communicated with family and friends. Then she created a Facebook page. Because of the special circumstances, including her age, we were able to get a subpoena, which allowed Facebook to disclose the Internet address of the computer she was using.

Despite a technical glitch at the Internet service provider that prevented them from pinpointing the actual computer in use, they were able to lead us to an apartment building. A local officer was sent to search the area. The girl's parents contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which resulted in hundreds of flyers being posted in the area. The girl was found shortly afterward.

Without Facebook, my job would be tremendously more difficult. I honestly don't know how I would do this work without it.

In another case in Connecticut in 2009, officials turned to Facebook to track down two 15-year-old girls who had run away together:

One was definitely not a typical runaway: She had no problems at school, no police contact, a functional and supportive family life, and plenty of friends. Her parents were understandably panicked when she disappeared one day not long before Thanksgiving.

Officers followed standard procedures, sending out statewide and national alerts, and interviewing friends and family. But nobody knew where the girls were headed and they had turned off their mobile phones. The case was stalled.

The girls were in New York, out on the street, playing guitar and asking for money. They were vulnerable and unaware of how much danger they could be in. One of the girls then posted an update to her Facebook page, and that proved to be the key piece of information that was needed to find her.

Facebook responded within an hour, despite the fact that it was after 10 p.m., and we obtained the name of the Internet service provider the girl had used to access Facebook. As soon as the provider opened the following day, we were able to trace the activity to a rooming house in New York City. We asked the NYPD to look for the girls, and officers arrived just as they were leaving the building. The girls were returned to their families in time for Thanksgiving.

Facebook was instrumental in answering our e-mail right away. Their actions reflect favorably upon the Facebook community and foster positive relations with law enforcement.

While these stories represent a tiny fraction of the work done by law enforcement agencies every day, they show the ways police are adapting to technology to make their job of protecting the public easier. Given our commitment to protecting user data we only disclose information that is legally required and we can't accommodate every information request. When the appropriate requirements are met and circumstances dictate, we can provide information that may help in an investigation and we are pleased to do so.

Let's remember, today, to be thankful for the children who are safe, and for the hardworking men and women in law enforcement and elsewhere who are dedicated to bringing home those who are not.


Joe is Facebook's chief security officer.