Roger Fingas
Less than a week after its launch, Apple has banned a crime-reporting app called Vigilante from the App Store, which may have raised concerns over potential risks and abuses.
The app, developed by Sp0n, was initially released for New York City residents, and is meant to notify them about crimes reported via 911, The Guardian said. Users near an incident are alerted, and can even record live video.
Sp0n explained the ban only by saying that Apple was concerned about content.
"The team is working with Apple to resolve the issue and they are confident the app will be made available in the near future," a spokeswoman added. "Vigilante will introduce an Android version of the app in the upcoming weeks with plans to expand in additional cities later this year."
Apple does have rules against apps that could put users in danger, though, and indeed a promotional video for the app shows people rushing to a scene where a woman is being assaulted. In reality, the attacker could have turned on his witnesses and hurt or killed them.
Apple might also have been concerned about people using the app to harass others. While its crime reports stem from 911, people could theoretically start shooting video of innocent people, or even trying to detain or attack them. Racial profiling has been an issue in some other iOS apps, like Nextdoor, whose developer ultimately had to take steps to prevent reporting suspicious activity simply based on skin color.
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Wesley Hilliard
Marko Zivkovic
22 Comments
This is an interesting idea. A crowd-sourced policing system of sorts. Sometimes all it takes to stop a crime is for the criminal to be reminded that he's being watched. I can imagine how this app would raise lots of red flags for Apple though. I hope this concept or some form of it makes it out the other side. As a resident of New York City, I'd be really interested to see how an app like this affects my city. I think it's worth experimenting with.
It really is a fascinating idea. It does bring up so many potential problems though. Will the "vigilantes" get hurt or will they hurt the wrong person? Will the police shoot the vigilante thinking it is the perp?
Perhaps they should rename the app "Samaritan"?
But seriously, it's amazing the hoops people must jump through in order to protect themselves, versus having sensible concealed carry policies in these large coastal cities. Police can only mop up after the crime has already been committed.
First I think the primary purpose of the app was to keep people out of harms way, telling people where they should not be.
Okay being a little more cynical here, does any one think people will rush to help someone, I am sorry, most people really choose not to get involved these days. Now the fact the apps allows you to record video makes it sounds more like watching the train wreck which most people are interested in and record what the police are doing these days and the bad behavior we now see from people standing around watching what is happening.
They just need to integrate app this into Waze to make sure I do not drive into an area where I probably should not be.
This isn't ripe for abuse.
Does the app have a feature that also shows where anyone wearing a hoodie or long, black trenchcoat is located?