Summary
- Apple removed apps flagging ICE officer sightings.
- Removal followed law enforcement safety warnings.
- The ICEBlock app had over 1 million downloads.
- The Trump administration pressured Apple for removal.
After law enforcement alerted the internet giant to "safety risks" linked to ICEBlock and "similar apps," it said that it has taken the software out of its software Store.
In a statement, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the software was "designed to put ICE officers at risk" and "demanded" that it be taken down.
Such assertions were deemed "patently false" by the app's inventor, who also charged Apple with "capitulating to an authoritarian regime."
In reaction to President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration and an increase in ICE raids, many apps, including ICEBlock, were released this year.
The government is accused by critics, including the founder of ICEBlock, of abusing its authority and "bringing terror" to American streets.
The way the free app operates is by displaying immigration officers' movements. In the United States, it has been downloaded over a million times.
Bondi countered that it was being used to target ICE personnel, claiming that the FBI claimed the guy who killed two detainees at an ICE facility in Dallas in September had used similar apps to follow the movements of agents and their cars.
In a statement Apple said:
"We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps.
Based on information we've received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store."
But its creator, Joshua Aaron, denied it posed a threat.
"ICEBlock is no different from crowd sourcing speed traps, which every notable mapping application, including Apple's own Maps app,"
he said.
"This is protected speech under the first amendment of the United States Constitution."
How did law enforcement justify safety risks from the apps?
The applications make ICE agents vulnerable to assault and attacks solely for doing their job by tracking their locations and movements in real-time.
"Apps like ICEBlock put ICE agents at risk," and it crosses into "an intolerable red line" that allows violence to be committed against law enforcement, warned U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and other law enforcement officials.
Their concerns include the possibility of those with violent intentions misusing these apps, in the case of a recent shooting against ICE, the shooter utilized applications to determine where ICE agents were.
Law enforcement agencies reiterated that apps that disclose sensitive, operational information interfere with their ability to enforce the law in a safe manner for personnel.