Google won’t pull DUI-evasion apps

RIM has taken down apps that point out sobriety checkpoints. Google says it won't take any action. And Apple remains silent

Google has declined to bow to the demands of U.S. senators who want app purveyors to drop apps that promise to help users avoid sobriety checkpoints. A source cited in an International Business Times report said that Google will only remove apps for violating Android content policies. The “DUI-evasion” apps appear to be OK by Google’s standards and the company won’t be taking any action, according to the report.
Fuzz Alert, Phantom Alert and Trapster are examples of apps that give users a variety of information about various police activities along roads and highways including speed traps, red light cameras and DUI checkpoints.
Senators Harry Reid, Charles E. Schumer, Frank R. Lautenberg and Tom Udall recently addressed letters to Google, Research in Motion (RIM) and Apple asking the companies to remove the apps from their respective mobile app stores.
“Giving drunk drivers a free tool to evade checkpoints, putting innocent families and children at risk, is a matter of public concern,” the senators said. “We hope that you will give our request to remove these applications from your store immediate consideration.”
The senators didn’t specifically name any individual apps in their letters.
While Google remains resolute, RIM has capitulated and removed the apps in question from its BlackBerry World Store.
“RIM’s decision to remove these apps from their online store prove that when it comes to drunk driving, there should not be an app for that,” said senator Charles Schumer.
Apple has not inidcated if it will take any action. And a quick check of the iTunes App Store shows that apps in question remain available for download.

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Senators ask Apple to pull DUI-evasion apps

Apple faces criticism for items in its App Store yet again, but this time, its apps that aid drunk drivers that are catching attention.


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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