Apple Bans DUI Checkpoint Apps

Apple has added verbiage to the App Store Review Guidelines banning DUI checkpoint apps. Presumably, the changed guidelines are in response to letters from four Democratic U.S. senators sent to Apple earlier this year. The letters requested Apple remove apps that provide "a database of DUI [driving under the influence] checkpoints updated in real-time". The Senators considered the checkpoint apps "a matter of public concern."

Section 22.8 of the updated App Store Review Guidelines reads:

Apps which contain DUI checkpoints that are not published by law enforcement agencies, or encourage and enable drunk driving, will be rejected.

Some law enforcement agencies publish where DUI checkpoints will be located ahead of time, and these notices have been exempted from the ban.

As we noted when the senators sent their letter, many of the apps in question also offer information on speed traps, red light and speed cameras, accidents, and other traffic conditions, several of which have also been considered controversial. However, the new Guidelines only mention DUI checkpoints.