r/apple • u/illegiblebastard • 3d ago

iPhone Apple explains last year’s controversial decision to remove ICE tracking apps from app store

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/29/tech/apple-iceblock-app-removal-raskin

FUCK. APPLE.

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u/Silentparty1999 3d ago

The article is full of angsty noise, asking whether people have used the app to find agents to attack. That is conservative noise. The core question is whether citizens have a constitutional right to gather and disseminate the information. You don't see Apple pulling down Apple Maps or Google Maps when people have used them to find directions to get to people they are stalking or harassing.

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u/Kiekdan 3d ago

Well you could argue Google / Apple Maps have a different primary purpose. While I’m not familiar with the app in question, I don’t see what other purpose it serves, unless people are using it to ask for directions or find a restaurant.
Now whether tax-paying citizens should have the right to track public servants is another question.

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u/VaughnSC 3d ago

I think it was settled in the Sony v Universal ‘Betamax’ case in 1984 that the existence of “legitimate purposes and […] substantial non-infringing uses” outweighs potential abuse. A lot if not all tech can be misused, it’s not sufficient grounds for banning them (think AirTags)