Apple Ices Ice Tracking App

Apple gave itself another public relations black eye last night by agreeing with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and pulling the ICEBlock app from the App Store. 404 Media has more on the story here. 

ICEBlock has proven to be a popular, and much needed app in these days when ICE agents are working to fulfill Donald’s Trump mass deportation fantasies with too large of the population cheering him on. It allows users to pinpoint ICE activity on the app for others to see and possibly avoid the area and take precautions.

The developers of ICEBlock are saying they will fight the expulsion, sharing the following email from Apple with 404 Media:

Hello,

We are writing to let you know about new information regarding the latest approved version of your app, which could impact its availability on the App Store.

Upon re-evaluation, we found that your app is not in compliance with the App Review Guidelines. Specifically, we found your app is in violation of the following:

1.1 Objectionable Content
Apps should not include content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy. Examples of such content include:

1.1.1 Defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including references or commentary about religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national/ethnic origin, or other targeted groups, particularly if the app is likely to humiliate, intimidate, or harm a targeted individual or group. Professional political satirists and humorists are generally exempt from this requirement.

Information provided to Apple by law enforcement shows that your app violates Guideline 1.1.1 because its purpose is to provide location information about law enforcement officers that can be used to harm such officers individually or as a group.

For this reason, your app will be removed from the App Store. Customers who have previously downloaded this app will continue to have access to it on their devices, but they will be unable to re-download this app from the App Store or restore this app from a backup if they delete it from their device. Additionally, customers will be unable to purchase in-app purchase products and any auto-renewable subscriptions will be canceled. The TestFlight version of this app will also be unavailable for external and internal testing and all public TestFlight links will no longer be functional.

Best regards,
App Review

In a statement to CNBC 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.

Apple has in the past pulled other apps from App Stores after government pressure from other countries, always stating that they have to follow the laws of the countries that they operate within. To my knowledge this is the first time this has happened in the U.S.

Apple and its CEO Tim Cook remain under intense scrutiny for blatantly undisguised subservience to the Trump administration on a number of fronts to avoid tariffs and other threats wielded against the company. But they are not bending their knees alone.  AG Bondi pointed out other apps available on Google’s App Store that provide similar services saying “Your move, Google.”

Let’s face it. Both Apple and Google, as well as other big tech and media companies, have proven to be easy (too easy) marks for this criminal regime’s bully boys and girls. Their capitulation has taken the wind out of any progressive sails that these companies previously used to cultivate and build brand loyalty, creating new legacies that will last longer than any zig-zagging line on a profit-loss chart. This latest capitulation certainly continues to put a chill on any good will sympathies users have for these companies and their products.

That said, Apple and Google know well their dominance of the mobile operating system market leaves the vast majority of consumers with little choice in this topsy-turvy new world bound by the inertia of every day life as much as gravity. Certainly there are other options out there, but the number of users willing to jump through the hoops to get away from this capitulating corporate behavior is small, and at the moment I dare say insignificant. That will remain the case because there certainly doesn’t appear to be an opportunity for alternative mobile operating systems to surface, capture attention, and take hold, given the current environment.

Chilling times indeed.

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