Josh OngFour U.S. Senators, including Sen. Charles Schumer, sent letters to Apple, Google and Research in Motion in March requesting that the companies remove apps notifying users of police sobriety checkpoints their respective application stores. Schumer raised the issue again at Tuesday's Senate subcommittee hearing on privacy.
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., scheduled the hearing, which was entitled "Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy," after reports surfaced that Apple and Google were tracking users via location database files in iOS and Google Android.
Tribble, who served as manager of Apple's original Macintosh software development team and helped to design the original Mac OS and user interface, and Alan Davidson, Google's director of public policy for the Americas, participated in the second panel at Tuesday's hearing.
Schumer specifically took issue with apps like Buzz'd and Fuzz Alert, which "really only have one purpose:" to notify drivers when they get near checkpoints. "We brought these to the attention of RIM, they pulled the app down. I'm disappointed that Apple and Google did not. Why not?", This is my next reported Schumer as asking.
Davidson explained that Google's policy is to maintain and maximize openness, adding that the apps do not violate the company's policy. After being pressed further by Schumer, Davidson told the committee that Google is "actively discussing it" and he would take the senator's request back to the company.
"I hope that you narrowly look at this app. You agree that it is a terrible thing, and it probably causes death," Schumer responded.
Speaking on behalf of Apple, Tribble noted that some of the apps in question "are publishing data that's actually first published by the police department." However, Schumer dismissed the assertion as "sort of a weak read," adding that he knew of no police department "that would publish this [information] in realtime."
"We're in the process of looking into it — we have a policy that we don't allow apps that encourage illegal activity," Tribble replied. "If the apps intent is to encourage people to break the law, then we will pull it. I will take that back."
After encouraging Apple to make a distinction between "the police department and an app that updates in real time," Schumer asked that both Google and Apple get him an answer in a month's time.
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60 Comments
Our senators and congressmen are simply stupid.The courts have ruled that police cannot have DUI checkpoints unless they advertise the location and time to the public (newspaper) in advance of the checkpoint. Where do they think the app's information about the DUI checkpoints is coming from? The government says "no DUI checkpoint unless it is publicly announced", then wants Apple to remove an app that accomplishes what the government says police must first do. We have idiots for legislators. I'm not a proponent of DUI. In fact I personally think that DUI laws are far too lax. But that doesn't change the facts pertaining to this app and the stupidity of Sen. Al Franken, et.al.
Since when do you not have the right to report what you see on a public street?
Before cellphones we used to broadcast this information to other reps in our company using our pagers.
So is the senate proposing a ban on SMS and phonecalls as they also can be used to report to others what is happening in PUBLIC places.
Knowing where speed cameras are REDUCES the speed of traffic in the area which is the stated purpose of such devices, unless the bodies that install them want to come clean and admit they are there for revenue raising purposes using entrapment.
"progressives" being "progressives"
"progressives" being "progressives"
I agree.
Cinemagic - You're absolutely correct!! I don't think Congress (both houses) understands the Fourth Amendment.
hill60 - I don't think you understand what entrapment is. I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but entrapment is the police/gov etc getting you to do something you normally wouldn't do then prosecuting you.