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Apple Bans DUI Checkpoint Apps

Wednesday June 8, 2011 1:11 pm PDT by Jordan Golson

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.

[ 428 comments ]


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FriarNurgle
107 months ago
Can we ban Facebook and Twitter then? I'm sure people are communicating DUI check points on there too.
Rating: 24 Votes
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chrono1081
107 months ago

Note that the guidelines only prohibit listing DUI checkpoints that are NOT published by the police force. It would seem this only bans user-reported checkpoint entry...


You actually think most mac rumors users are smart enough to read the article before opening their mouths? :P
Rating: 18 Votes
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Mattie Num Nums
107 months ago

You'd likely change your mind if you suffered the loss of a loved one as the result of drunk driving.


I have. This app does nothing to stop anyone from driving drunk. Check points don't cover the entire drive of a drunk, just one portion of it.
Rating: 18 Votes
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addicted44
107 months ago



Stupid. The information that these apps had were given IN ADVANCE by the local police departments!

Why don't these Senetors spend their energy on fixing unemployment and out of control spending.


Apps which use data published by police departments are EXEMPTED from the ban. It says so right in this article.

Are people so trigger happy about bashing Apple that they cant even read the article they are bashing them about?
Rating: 14 Votes
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Daveoc64
107 months ago
"Free Speech" has never applied on the App Store - not that it has to.

Apple is under no legal obligation in any country (not just the United States) to allow everything on the store.

If Apple thinks something is unreasonable, it has the right to ban it.
Rating: 13 Votes
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ThunderSkunk
107 months ago

Who else, but someone breaking the law, would download this app?


Me. I don't drink. I do work til 11pm to 1am most nights. Running into checkpoints and sitting in a line for an hour while the police look for drunks? Okay. But every single night when I've just worked a 16-18hr day? No thank you.
Rating: 13 Votes
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scoobydoo99
107 months ago

You'd likely change your mind if you suffered the loss of a loved one as the result of drunk driving.


This has nothing to do with drunk driving. It's about a citizen's right to share information about when and where the state is conducting searches without probable cause. If we are going to be surveilled and searched without probable cause, we should be able to share information on where that is occurring.

The real travesty is that Apple caved to the government thugs.
Rating: 13 Votes
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chrmjenkins
107 months ago

This is known as a reasonable limitation.


That's debatable. Many can argue this is a limitation of free speech, but it's a closed market that Apple controls. Notice the senators did not say it's in violation of law, simply that it was concerning.
Rating: 12 Votes
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acslater017
107 months ago

The difference between breaking a driving curfew or speeding is that those are both victimless crimes. I'm not hurting anyone by breaking a 10pm driving curfew, whereas I would be if I stole something. The only victim is me, myself, and I, if I get caught because violating the curfew gets you two points on your license and a crapload of hiked auto insurance premiums.

-Don


You're extremely self-centered. Believe it or not, teenagers do not make the best decisions. I should know, I used to be one. You are not a kid, but you are not quite an adult yet. So society places restrictions on teenagers. Be glad that you have a car - 99% of the world's people your age don't have that privilege.

Be patient, be smart. Your life could be ruined if you ran over someone or hurt yourself. That would be far from victimless.
Rating: 12 Votes
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rtdunham
107 months ago

...so I can break Michigan's retarded 10pm curfew for teen drivers. I'll be sure to not update Trapster in the near future. This is just another attempt by the government and their pig...


I was gonna say "grow up" and stop thinking "retarded" is a funny word and that police are "pigs". But then I see you're still a teenager so I guess there's time for you to develop some more mature points of view.

When I was a teenager my dad pulled off the road to look at a map, and we were rear-ended by a drunk going 50. The police found he'd been mixing drinks while he drove. Maybe a checkpoint would have taken him off the road and averted our tragedy.

When I was a young adult I worked as a police beat reporter on weekend nights, when that beat's busiest. I covered many car crashes and alcohol was usually involved. I remember one where I helped police pull a kid out of his crumpled car (the other driver, a pregnant woman, had already been taken away). At the hospital later I watched as doctors first told her husband they'd lost the baby she was carrying, and then, an hour later, that she'd died, too. Maybe a checkpoint would have taken that teenage driver off the road.

What are we to trade for the thousands of alcohol-related auto deaths? Your zeal to avoid the state's curfew? Joe Blow's desire to sell an app?

Have you ever seen a driver flash his lights to warn oncoming traffic that there's a cop with a speedgun ahead? I'm sure he thinks he's cool. I always wonder if the driver would do that--help speeders avoid getting caught--if he knew his kids were driving behind him and would have to face all the speeders who weren't taken off the road. Regardless of age, Don, there are grownups on the road, and some who aren't so much. Pick your sides carefully, because it's not a game but real life, with real consequences.

(and please note i've NOT said i care whether you adhere to a curfew. I'm arguing your inconvenience is a petty argument for doing away with DUI checkpoints, much less checkpoint apps. please give it some thought.)
Rating: 12 Votes

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