Since last week, Apple approved the HKmap.live application. It crowdsources locations of police and protesters. They rejected it earlier this month and Wednesday the 9th of October they pulled it back again after being live for not more than a week (BBC News, 2019).
The removal from yesterday came after many customers contacted the app store with concerns. When researching the use of the application Apple found that the application had endangered the law enforcement and residents (BBC News, 2019). “The app displays police locations and we have verified with the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau that the app has been used to target and ambush police, threaten public safety, and criminals have used it to victimize residents in areas where they know there is no law enforcement,” the statement said (Nellis, 2019).
Apple not only removed the application HKmap.live itself but also the BackupHK which served as a mirror of the application. The police of Hong Kong has not responded to the incidents (Nellis, 2019).
The developers of the application do not agree with the accusation. “There is 0 evidence to support CSTCB’s accusation,” the HKmap developers said in response. “HKmap App never solicits, promotes, or encourages criminal activity. HKmap App consolidates information from user and public sources, e.g. live news stream, Facebook and Telegram” (Byford, 2019).
Some consumers of the application disagree with the removal. They say there is no evidence that the application had been used in ambushes. The application created content from social media post (Nellis, 2019). Consumers think that users with the intention to create agitation will not post such content online. They believe the HKmap improved public safety, not the opposite. It gave residents the chance to avoid protest and riots.
What do you think about the influence of the application in the Hong Kong protests? Did Apple open the door to violent protesters? Or did they ruin the resident’s possibility to stay safe in their city?
Nellis, S. (2019) Apple pulls police-tracking app used in Hong Kong protests after consulting authorities. [Online] Reuters. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-apple/apple-pulls-police-tracking-app-used-in-hong-kong-protests-after-consulting-authorities-idUSKBN1WP09U
Byford, S. (2019) Apple removes app used in Hong Kong protests after pressure from China [Online] The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/10/20907596/apple-hong-kong-protests-app-removed-china
BBC News (2019) Apple drops Hong Kong police-tracking app used by protesters [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49995688
Thanks for the post. I think this is going to be a recurring problem as platforms continue to increase. The larger they get, they start operating more and more as government bodies. On one side we demand openenes, yet we forget the company is a privet business that can do what it wants (legally). I think in this specific case, it’s hard to see in who’s interest Apple acted their real motivations. But I think this blog post highlights the bigger problem of governance for customers within a publicly traded firm. Who determines the ethics? Who mandates morality? A continual challenge for us to solve I believe!