A free iPhone app called ICEBlock, which used to track the activities of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, is no longer available in the App Store. This is reported by the Associated Press.
The application worked on the basis of crowdsourcing – users could anonymously report the activities of ICE employees, and others were able to track them. Last month, ICEBlock’s developer claimed that more than 1 million people were using the app. The popularity of such programs in the United States has increased sharply against the background of increased immigration control due to unexpected raids.
“We just received a notification from Apple App Review that ICEBlock has been removed from the App Store due to objectionable content. The only thing we can imagine is pressure from the Trump administration. We have reacted and will fight against it!” – said the press service of the developer.
Apple has explained that it is removing programs such as ICEBlock due to potential risks reported by law enforcement agencies.
“We built the App Store to be a safe and secure place to find apps. Based on information we received from law enforcement agencies about the security risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store”, the company said in a statement.
