Senators ask Apple to pull DUI-evasion apps

By Molly McHugh March 22, 2011

Apple is currently being urged by users to cut its app promising to cure homosexuality. Thousands have voiced their disapproval of the application, and thus far Apple has remained mum on the subject. But another iOS app garnering negative attention is one that might require a response. US senators are asking Apple to pull applications that help law-breaking users avoid police.

There are quite a few iOS options in the App Store that promise to keep you out of cuffs, specifically keep those driving under the influence away from DUI checkpoints. PhantomALERT and FuzzAlert (which are available for Android devices as well) are two such apps that have brought government attention to Apple because it only allows approved of apps to be available in its App Store. The Senators want Apple to use this authority to pull any and all applications that aid law evasion.

“With more than 10,000 Americans dying in drunk-driving crashes every year, providing access to iPhone and iPad applications that alert users to DUI checkpoints is harmful to public safety. We know that your company shares our desire to end the scourge of drunk driving and we therefore would ask you to remove these applications from your store,” senators Harry Reid, Charles E. Schumer, Frank Lautenberg, and Tom Udall wrote in a letter addressed to Apple VP of iPhone software Scott Forstall.

And while the Android Marketplace isn’t subject to the type of scrutiny as Apple’s, the senators have also addressed the competition. The group noted that “We appreciate the technology that has allowed millions of Americans to have information at their fingertips, but giving drunk drivers a free tool to evade checkpoints, putting innocent families and children at risk, is a matter of public concern.”

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…

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