Apple under fire in China over app which monitors police activities in Hong Kong

Tech giants, Apple Inc has come under fire in China after state media on Tuesday accused it of protecting “rioters” in Hong Kong and enabling illegal behaviour.

This came after the US-based technology giant listed on its app store an application that tracks police activity in the city.

“By allowing its platform to clear the way for an app that incites illegal behaviour, [does Apple] not worry about damaging its reputation and hurting the feelings of consumers?” said a bellicose commentary published on the app of People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece.

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Apple had previously rejected the app, called HKmap.live, but reversed its decision on Friday and made the programme available for download from the iOS App Store on Saturday, according to the program’s developer.

According to the developer of the app which declined to give a name when, citing concerns of arrest by the government, “the app relies on crowdsourced information to track the location of police presence in the city, alerting users to police vehicles, armed officers and incidents in which people have been injured.”

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