FBI releases its first iPhone app: Child ID

The FBI has released it first iPhone app called Child ID. As the name suggests, Child ID works as a kind of digital passport for information about your children. With it you can store their photos along with physical identifiers such as height and weight. The app has several intended uses, the first a which is as something you can quickly show a security official to help identify your child if they go missing, say at an airport or a theme park. The app also has allows you to call 911 with the tap of a button and also call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. You can also choose to email your child's information to authorities.

For those of you worried over privacy concerns, the FBI states on its website that the app does not collect or store any photos or information you enter into the phone. Everything resides locally on your iPhone until you choose to send that information to the authorities. Child ID is a great start, but one issue I had with the app is that there is no way to set a passcode on it. If you're storing information that could identify your children, it would be nice to lock the app should it fall into the wrong hands.

Child ID is a free download for the iPhone, and the FBI says it will be coming to other mobile devices in the future.

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Source: http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/august/child_080511/chi…

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The FBI has released it first iPhone app called Child ID. As the name suggests, Child ID works as a kind of digital passport for...

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John Walsh

The Child ID app also enables the ability to store the missing child’s information in various fields of ‘identifying characteristics’
http://radiomobiletech.com/news/news-news/child-id-iphone-app-launched-by-fbi.html

August 11 2011 at 5:47 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Sheenajezz Jezz

Nice selection.
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August 09 2011 at 12:28 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Two Fedoras

I can see Apple folding this into MobilMe / iCloud... Find My Kid.

August 08 2011 at 2:57 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

jd3rdpig

TUAW's articles seem to be getting published without being proofread...

August 08 2011 at 12:48 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Copyright Attorney

Often when children go missing, it takes time to get photos to authorities who then alert the public, Bohanan said. The app is intended to streamline the process.

Parents already are used to police offering to fingerprint children at community events. The idea is to help identify a child found miles away from home, said Calhoun, Ga., police spokesman Lt. Tony Pyle.

August 08 2011 at 6:29 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Buzz Mega

The app that should exist is the one that will pick a Most Wanted face out of any photo submitted—if it can be reliably identified—then call you back with an alert on the down low if someone is spotted.

August 08 2011 at 2:14 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Kristoffer Newsom

Love it! Though, if you're worried about people getting your personal info, shouldn't you just password protect your entire PHONE? Personally, I'd like a passcode in the app itself, but more for making those 911 calls... after all, what parent with a small kid doesn't sometimes enjoy a well-earned respite while Jr. has a whack at Angry Birds..? I know MY boy is awfully quick with the Home button, and can always find a new app.

August 07 2011 at 8:47 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

Bill Waggoner

I don't know ... if a Grandfather can get arrested for taking pictures of his Grandchildren in the park, what do you suppose having an entire dossier on multiple children stored in you phone can get you?

August 07 2011 at 8:19 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to Bill Waggoner's comment