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Trump Team Has Full Meltdown Over CNN Story on ICE-Tracking App (newrepublic.com)

submitted 17 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 minutes ago

Was curious so Iooked up the app's site.

Apparently the devs claim they can't release it on Android because "There's no way to be anonymous on the play store", but it's even more impossible to be anonymous on the platform they've released. That's how you know the developer is incredibly stupid and/or shady as hell- because they've never even heard of Fdroid?

Makes me think the app is a troll/trojan horse (not as in infection, trojan horse as in it has alterior motives)

The Drumpf crew "losing it" over the app just makes it more questionable. They love to create a firestorm so people talk about the thing "they definitely don't want you to use!!" to get people to do things...

[-] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago

It's going to be filled with false warnings from MAGA idiots and trolls...

[-] [email protected] 36 points 7 hours ago

I love how the Streisand Effect works. They just made this app the hottest thing out there.

[-] [email protected] 33 points 5 hours ago

It's closed source, and the build and publishing pipeline isn't transparent.

For me that makes this no different than a potential ICE honey pot

[-] [email protected] 10 points 3 hours ago

can’t even find “Joshua Aaron” on linked in or github. feels a little sus. my moneys on honey pot

[-] [email protected] 6 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

which is exactly what this whole 'meltdown' frame for the pr hints at. republicans know how to use publicity stunts to get what they want.

[-] [email protected] 27 points 9 hours ago

Is the app foss?

[-] [email protected] 38 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

No, and even worse, its only for apple devices lmao. These kids are so unserious in their activism it would be funny if it werent so sad. If shit hits the fan, this stuff will go down instantly and im sure it has no backup plan for a Tor based or p2p service. Activists in the US should start using Briar. This situation is exactly what it was made for and people have to get their tech game up fast or they will be done for. Get a shitty 80$ android phone if you only have an iphone. Install a panic trigger app that will wipe the phone if you are in trouble.

On ICEBlocks website it says:

Modeled after Waze but for ICE sightings, the app ensures user privacy by storing no personal data, making it impossible to trace reports back to individual users.

Which worries me, because if its closed source then thats a worthless promise and actually makes the app a perfect candidate for a honeypot or backdoor.

[+] [email protected] -11 points 4 hours ago

apple is the majority of the market, no? so if e.g. a company wanted to get a product out for a client asap, apple would be the market to aim for.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 3 hours ago

Turn of your capitalism brain ffs. This is not the place for companies and markets. If there is a financial interest then the app is worthless by design. iOS is not a trustable platform for anything security related so obviously you shouldnt use it for anything that concerns your physical safety. Dont forget, apple will always bend the knee to governments in the end.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago

I don't know, don't Apple have a reasonable track record of pushing back against governments? I personally have even less faith in the security of android based devices or Android phone manufacturers.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Apple have a reasonable track record of pushing back against governments

Only when it comes to individual consumer cases like terrorists or other crimes. When it comes to large scale political movements then they are very quick to lend authoritarian governments a hand, see for example their cooperation with the CCP to suppress the Hong Kong protests. But they have also always cooperated with police to some degree and this has only gotten worse.

Forbes for the lack of a better source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2024/10/09/apple-sells-privacy-to-consumers-but-its-quietly-helping-police-use-iphones-for-surveillance/

There’s a widespread perception that Apple has a combative relationship with law enforcement after the company refused to help the FBI hack into the iPhone of the shooter in the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attacks. But since then, it has ramped up collaboration with police through the conference and other meetings with agencies at both Cupertino HQ and its Elk Grove campus, as well as a variety of previously unreported projects helping cops use iPhones, Macs, Apple Vision Pro and CarPlay, the emails show. Most of these projects have not been announced publicly.

Apple declined to comment.

People just love believing in Apple for some weird reasons.

[-] [email protected] 45 points 10 hours ago

Shouldn’t be an app. It should be a site accessible using vpn and private browsing with an appropriate browser. Nobody should have to worry about the Stasi finding the app on their phone regardless of the situation.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago

Can’t it be both?

[-] [email protected] 15 points 10 hours ago

While this is true, most people are not so tech savvy, maybe giving an option to mask app Icon to user choice can help it hide better.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 hours ago

going to a website (not tech savvy enough for this) vs going to the settings on an app and select a new icon (yay anyone can do it)

[-] [email protected] 5 points 9 hours ago

While I agree, in this particular case I think it's a good idea.

[-] [email protected] 35 points 10 hours ago

I would imagine this is very similar to marking a cop on Waze and completely legal which is why they are throwing a hissy fit.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 7 hours ago

dont they have site as well, just incase they decide to shut the apps.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 11 hours ago

Ice and snowflakes always seem to go so well with one another.

[-] [email protected] 233 points 17 hours ago

Sweet. I appreciate that their reaction has Streisand-effected this app into my awareness.

[-] [email protected] 111 points 16 hours ago

"[the app] basically paints a target on federal law enforcement officers’ backs"

When it comes to painting targets on backs, better them then innocent civilians.

[-] [email protected] 60 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Lol.

R's have not only painted targets, they've made ads, and joked about killing civilians and anyone other than MAGAts

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/guns-republican-primary-campaign-ads-midterms-1336903/

Greene in an ad for her 2020 campaign cocked an assault rifle as she warned “antifa terrorists” to stay out of her district

Masters, a venture capitalist and favorite of Trump-loving billionaire Peter Thiel, has featured guns prominently throughout his primary campaign. He responded to President Biden’s promise on Monday to crack down on “ghost guns,” which are homemade and untraceable, by tweeting a picture of a “ghost gun” he recently built himself. “Very legal & very cool,” he wrote.

https://www.indy100.com/politics/eric-greitens-campaign-ad-gun

"There's no bagging limit, no tagging limit, and it doesn't expire until we save our country."

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/south-carolina-governor-henry-mcmaster-hunting-dogs-b2344416.html

"I look forward to the day that Democrats are so rare, we have to hunt them with dogs,"

Edit: and for the record, Blake Masters is a piece of shit buddy of both elon and Vance and they are all tied together in their hate for democracy and love of Curtis Yarvin and the plot to destroy western civilization. (Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/inside-the-new-right-where-peter-thiel-is-placing-his-biggest-bets)

[-] [email protected] 140 points 17 hours ago

They could try not being brown shirts. Problem solved.

[-] [email protected] 81 points 16 hours ago

I love the quote about how it is putting federal agents in danger...and I sort of think that they are doing that themselves.

[-] [email protected] 26 points 14 hours ago

Good, those agents are playing a dangerous game and you should know if you play with fire your going get burned. Its a matter of time before they try to kidnap the wrong person, and that person decides its better to die in America then it is to go to a camp then deported.

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[-] [email protected] 3 points 8 hours ago

I'm happy they're scared.

[-] [email protected] 81 points 17 hours ago

Anyone have a link to the app/website? I’d like to follow some among honing my horn and warning folks.

[-] [email protected] 71 points 17 hours ago

https://www.iceblock.app/

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[-] [email protected] 55 points 17 hours ago

This app sounds exceedingly useful to me.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

It sounds like a honeypot to me. But I would be happy to be proven wrong.

Edit: and it’s gone?

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[-] [email protected] 26 points 15 hours ago

if they're worried about being tracked maybe they could do the easiest thing in the world which is not being complete shitheads?

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this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2025

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