Apple Removes ICE‑Tracking App from App Store
Apple has pulled ICEBlock—a crowdsourced app that let users report nearby Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity—from its U.S. App Store after notifying the developer the app contained 'objectionable content.' The app, which the developer said exceeded 1 million downloads, allowed users to report ICE sightings within a five‑mile radius; DHS and ICE have warned such tools can endanger officers and impede enforcement, and CBS News reported officials tied searches for ICE‑tracking apps to a gunman who attacked an ICE facility in Dallas.
Tech
Public Safety
Immigration
🔍 Key Facts
- Apple removed the ICEBlock app from the App Store after flagging 'objectionable content.'
- Developer said ICEBlock surpassed 1,000,000 downloads about a month earlier.
- App functionality: crowdsourced reports of ICE activity 'within a 5 mile radius' of a user; another similar app, Coqui, remained available.
- DHS/ICE concern: ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan warned such apps can be 'dangerous' and 'used to spot and ambush ICE agents'; reporting notes a Dallas shooter had searched for ICE‑tracking apps.