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Apple Removes ICE Tracking Apps After Pressure by Trump Administration

posted by hubie on Wednesday October 08, @12:31PM   

mrpg writes:

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/apple-removes-ice-tracking-apps-after-pressure-by-trump-administration-2025-10-03/:

Apple said on Thursday that it had removed ICEBlock and other similar ICE-tracking apps from its App Store after it was contacted by President Donald Trump's administration, in a rare instance of apps being taken down due to a U.S. federal government demand.

Alphabet's Google also removed similar apps on Thursday for policy violations, but the company said it was not approached by the Justice Department before taking the action.

The app alerts users to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in their area, which the Justice Department says could increase the risk of assault on U.S. agents.

[...] Apple removed more than 1,700 apps from its App Store in 2024 in response to government demands, but the vast majority — more than 1,300 — came from China, followed by Russia with 171 and South Korea with 79.

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Original Submission

• Re:FAFORe:FAFO (Score: 5, Interesting) by Whoever on Wednesday October 08, @05:35PM (4 children)

  by Whoever (4524) on Wednesday October 08, @05:35PM (#1419930) Journal

  By the way, it's extremely easy to prove you're a US citizen

  You are stopped by ICE on the street and not allowed to contact anyone. How do you prove you are a citizen? Don't say that you have a driver license because:
  1. Driver licenses are not proof of citizenship and
  2. ICE has been discarding such documents, claiming (without proof) that they are forgeries.

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  Starting Score:	1		point
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  Insightful=1, Interesting=1, Informative=1, Total=3
  Extra 'Interesting' Modifier		0
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• Re:FAFO(Score: 4, Funny) by Tork on Wednesday October 08, @05:46PM

  by Tork (3914) on Wednesday October 08, @05:46PM (#1419934) Journal

  You are stopped by ICE on the street and not allowed to contact anyone. How do you prove you are a citizen?

  Also... how do you prove that's an actual ICE officer and not a cosplaying criminal?

  --
  🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈 - Give us ribbiti or make us croak! 🐸

  Parent

• Re:FAFO(Score: 3, Funny) by mrpg on Wednesday October 08, @10:55PM

  by mrpg (5708) <{mrpg} {at} {soylentnews.org}> on Wednesday October 08, @10:55PM (#1419977) Homepage

  Proctor: All right, here's your last question. What was the cause of
                    the Civil War?
          Apu: Actually, there were numerous causes. Aside from the obvious
                    schism between the abolitionists and the anti-abolitionists,
                    there were economic factors, both domestic and inter--
  Proctor: Wait, wait... just say slavery.
          Apu: Slavery it is, sir.
  -- "Much Apu About Nothing"

  Parent

• Re:FAFORe:FAFO (Score: 2) by aafcac on Friday October 10, @12:12AM (1 child)

  by aafcac (17646) on Friday October 10, @12:12AM (#1420102)

  Real IDs require proving citizenship, not that that really matters, ICE has already deported actual citizens and people with court orders saying that they can't be deported and there's going to be a massive mess to clean up when Trump has his coronary and the courts have to work through the backlog of people that stopped attending hearings because ICE was using them as an opportunity to arrest people that have been in compliance with relevant laws.

  Parent

  • Re:FAFO(Score: 2) by Whoever on Friday October 10, @03:05PM

    by Whoever (4524) on Friday October 10, @03:05PM (#1420174) Journal

    Real IDs require proving citizenship

    Not true. They require proof of legal presence.

    Here are the instructions for how a non-citizen can get a Real-ID from a state that is more anti-immigrant than most: Florida:
      https://www.flhsmv.gov/driver-licenses-id-cards/what-to-bring/non-immigrant/ [flhsmv.gov]

    Parent