Police remove Facebook post after breaching privacy of missing teen

The missing person post appeared on a regional Police Facebook page and inadvertently included private details. Photo / File

Police have breached the privacy of a missing teenager by posting personal information about her on Facebook.

The post appeared on a regional police Facebook page and not only alerted the public to the teen's disappearance but also of her home address, personal mental health details and date of birth.

A police spokeswoman confirmed the inclusion of those details was an error and said police considered the privacy of individuals very seriously.

"When posting anything to social media, police carefully considers issues such as privacy and any other relevant legal obligations, balanced against the public interest and community safety," she said.

"In this instance, private information was inadvertently included in an image included with the Facebook post.

"The post was removed as soon as the error was brought to our attention."

However, it was not removed before other social media users noticed the error.

One user commented: "That's pretty private information to be sharing about a person."

Another called it out as being too much information and told police to "shut it down".

Police have advised the young person's caregivers of the mistake and a privacy breach report has been filed in line with their internal process.

The young person, who was reported missing yesterday evening, was found overnight safe and well.