Apple removes app that archives ICE operations

Apple has taken down more community-generated apps meant to document and hold Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents accountable, according to a report by 404Media.

In addition to apps that track ICE movements in live time, the tech giant banned an app that lets users anonymously record ICE agents and then archive the content for safekeeping. Users can also store news and advocate reports, social media posts, and other digital evidence of ICE operations in public spaces.

Called Eyes Up, the app was developed to organize information that may be hard to source but necessary to reference in the future, such as witness accounts of raids for later court proceedings. It also maintains a historical record of escalating immigration operations.

"The sole purpose of Eyes Up is to document and preserve evidence of abuses of power by law enforcement, which is an important function of a free society and constitutionally protected," the app's administration told 404Media. All content is manually verified by the app's administrators before being stored on the app. It's then pinned on a searchable map, intended to make finding evidence easier for those impacted — Eyes Up's desktop version is still operating.

Apple has recently faced growing pressure from the Trump administration to crack down on apps that support community organizing around ICE.

Last week, Apple banned a popular app that let communities track the movement of ICE officers and the locations of reported raids. The ICEBlock app, along with its developer, Joshua Aaron, had previously faced threats from federal officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Bondi said the Trump administration would attempt to prosecute Aaron for the risks it posed to ICE agents, with Noem arguing apps like this are an "obstruction of justice."

But Eyes Up, which only archives publicly posted materials after the clandestine operations of ICE have taken place, does not appear to carry the same "real time security risk" to immigration operations that Noem and Apple described. "Our goal is government accountability. We aren’t even doing real-time tracking,” the administrator said. Apple provided the same removal reasoning for both ICEBlock and Eyes Up, alleging they violate the company's objectionable content guidelines.

Following an appeal to the marketplace host, arguing that the app's map is significantly delayed by a manual review process and is not a safety threat, Apple told Eyes Up's administrators that the ban would remain in place.