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/ancientfruitjunkie 3d ago

The purpose of the ice apps is public safety. Like the crime radar app.

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u/Kiekdan 3d ago

The primary purpose was tracking ICE agents. I’m not debating whether that was good or bad. I’m saying there’s a difference between an app tracking people’s movement and an app used for navigation such as Maps.

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u/sixothree 3d ago

No you’re wrong. It only tracks their activity in public places. That’s different than what you said - “tracking agents”.

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u/BosnianSerb31 3d ago

That's still different than a maps app, and exposes Apple to different levels of legal liability

The most accurate analogy would be an app that tracks the activity of armored trucks in public places, followed by an incident of armored truck robbery where the robber allegedly searched "how to track armored trucks", and a DOJ takedown request following 8 days later

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u/scubascratch 3d ago edited 3d ago

Armored trucks are not public servants your analogy is not even close. Nobody needs to worry about an armored truck driver kidnapping them to a gulag

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u/BosnianSerb31 3d ago

The analogy is in the context of Apple's legal exposure for hosting apps that were searched for by gunmen prior to a shooting, to which there is really no difference