(MENAFN- The Arabian Post)

Apple has removed Eyes Up, an iPhone app that collected and archived videos of U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests, marking the second platform the company has taken down after ICEBlock. The swift removal followed concerns from U. S. law enforcement that such apps pose risks to officers.

Eyes Up's functionality allowed users to upload videos, tag arrest locations, and view past incidents on an interactive map. Unlike ICEBlock - which crowdsourced live sightings of ICE agents - Eyes Up focused on historical footage of enforcement actions, rather than real-time tracking. According to a site administrator, the app aimed to promote accountability and transparency rather than surveillance.

Apple justified the removal by categorising Eyes Up under“objectionable content,” citing that it provided location data on law enforcement officers in a manner that could be misused. The company stated it had received information from law enforcement agencies raising safety concerns. The takedown follows Apple's decision to remove ICEBlock, which allowed users to anonymously report ICE agents within a five-mile radius - that removal came after pressure from the Department of Justice and concerns expressed by U. S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Google has likewise acted, removing a similar app called Red Dot from its Play Store on the grounds that it ran counter to policies targeting high-risk user-generated content. That action echoes Apple's rationale of preventing abuse and protecting public safety.

Legal experts and civil liberties advocates have sharply criticised the removals, warning of a chilling effect on free expression and the public's right to monitor government activity. Several point out that restricting apps like Eyes Up shifts power toward state actors and can curb oversight of agencies operating in the public sphere.

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Joshua Aaron, creator of ICEBlock, denounced Apple's compliance with governmental pressure, calling it“a concession to authoritarian demands.” He asserted that removal of such tools undermines communities' capacity to document law enforcement conduct.

For its part, the Department of Homeland Security has maintained that apps exposing real-time locations of officers endanger their safety. Bondi has described ICEBlock as“designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs,” and the federal government has defended its actions as necessary steps to preserve law enforcement security.

Among the arguments invoked by Apple and the administration is a recent shooting at an ICE facility, during which officials say the attacker had searched for tracking tools. Although authorities have not directly linked Eyes Up or ICEBlock to the culprit's actions, that incident has sharpened scrutiny of apps that provide geo-data tied to enforcement operations.

Observers also note a broader tension across the tech industry: platforms such as Waze allow users to report police presence, yet law enforcement scrutiny in politically sensitive domains has led to selective enforcement of content rules. Some former Apple engineers have voiced internal dissent, asserting the company's actions conflict with its publicly stated commitment to human rights and openness.

Meanwhile, alternative platforms persist. StopICE. Net offers crowdsourced alerts via text and web, eschewing a dedicated app to side-step removal risk. The platform claims over half a million users and is engaged in a court battle over a subpoena from federal agencies demanding user data. Civil liberties groups argue that such platforms are essential for transparency in communities vulnerable to sudden enforcement actions.

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