Locate: New Foreign Office service to locate friends & family abroad in an emergency

Former_MSE_Archna

What's this about?

In response to the recent disasters in Burma and China, the foreign office has set up a useful tool where you can register your name and details before you trip away. This means in the event of a disaster they can quickly find out who is in the vicinity and let friends and family know you're safe and sound.

How to register

Simply register once with LOCATE, then update your account each time you go on holiday. The FCO promises:

"Your details will be stored on a secure database which can only be accessed by staff in our embassies or our Consular Crisis Group.

• we will only use your details to contact you
• we will delete the details of a trip once it has ended"

rpb

Hundreds of embassies, numerous employees in each, plus IT/database people, consultants, new recruits, etc.

You're trusting quite possibly thousands of people you've never met with the fact that you live at such-and-such a house, and that you will be away between certain dates...

Although at least it will be stored "on a secure database", and the gov. have a pretty good track record with those...