BBC:
The US government and law enforcement agencies have hit out at developers and users of apps which track Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arguing they threaten the lives of agents.
The FBI says the man who targeted an ICE facility in Dallas – killing two detainees – had used these types of apps to track the movements of agents and their vehicles.
A tracking app downloaded more than a million times that shows the movements of immigration officers was removed from Apple’s App Store on Thursday.
ICE Block was released in April following the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The creator of the app told the BBC that Apple was “capitulating to an authoritarian regime”.
The White House and the FBI had argued the app put the lives of law enforcement at risk.
Special Agent Joseph Rothrock said: “It’s no different than giving a hitman the location of their intended target” – a claim which has been disputed by the developer of one of the most popular apps.
BBC Verify has been looking at what the apps do and the potential impact they are having.
