The developer of ICEBlock, an app that let people crowdsource sightings of ICE officials, has said he is determined to fight back after Apple removed the app from its App Store on Thursday. The removal came after pressure from Department of Justice officials acting at the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi, according to Fox which first reported the removal. Apple told 404 Media it has removed other similar apps too.
“I am incredibly disappointed by Apple's actions today. Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move,” Joshua Aaron told 404 Media. “ICEBlock is no different from crowd sourcing speed traps, which every notable mapping application, including Apple's own Maps app, implements as part of its core services. This is protected speech under the first amendment of the United States Constitution.”
“We are determined to fight this with everything we have. Our mission has always been to protect our neighbors from the terror this administration continues to reign down on the people of this nation. We will not be deterred. We will not stop. #resist,” Aaron’s message continued.
The app worked by letting people report sightings of ICE in the app in close proximity to them based on their current location. Aaron has said that the app protects users’ privacy; a security researcher largely corroborated those findings. Others have criticized Aaron for allegedly not developing the app with input from people who defend people from deportation.
Aaron provided 404 Media with a copy of the email he received from Apple regarding the removal. It says “Upon re-evaluation, we found that your app is not in compliance with the App Review Guidelines.” It then points to parts of those guidelines around “Objectionable Content,” and specifically “Defamatory discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including references or commentary about religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national/ethnic origin, or other targeted groups, particularly if the app is likely to humiliate, intimidate, or harm a targeted individual or group.”
The email then says “Information provided to Apple by law enforcement shows that your app violates Guideline 1.1.1 because its purpose is to provide location information about law enforcement officers that can be used to harm such officers individually or as a group.”
The email says people who have already downloaded the app will be able to continue using it, but they will be unable to re-download it from the App Store.
ICEBlock rose to prominence in June when CNN covered the app. Shortly after, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) head Kritsi Noem then said that “we’re working with the Department of Justice to see if we can prosecute [CNN] for that.”
Bondi told Fox “ICEBlock is designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs, and violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed. This Department of Justice will continue making every effort to protect our brave federal law enforcement officers, who risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe.”
“We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store—and Apple did so,” Bondi added according to the Fox report. Fox says authorities also found Joshua Jahn, the suspected shooter at an ICE facility in September in which a detainee was killed, searched his phone for various tracking apps, including ICEBlock, before attacking the facility.
Aaron told 404 Media “Apple has claimed they received information from law enforcement that ICEBlock served to harm law enforcement officers. This is patently false.”
Apple told 404 Media in a statement it had removed other apps too. “We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps. Based on information we’ve received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store,” the statement said.
Update: this piece has been updated with a statement from Apple.
Apple pulls ICEBlock from the App Store