Apple under fire from China over HKmap.live app that tracks police activity amid Hong Kong protests
- HKmap.live uses crowdsourcing to track police vehicles, armed officers and incidents in which people have been injured
- People’s Daily column accuses the tech giant of ‘allowing its platform to clear the way for an app that incites illegal behaviour’
Chinese state media on Tuesday accused Apple Inc of protecting “rioters” in Hong Kong and enabling illegal behaviour, after the US-based technology giant listed on its app store an application that tracks police activity in the city.
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.
The developer declined to give a name when contacted via Twitter, 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. The app — a website version is also active — displays hotspots on a map of the city that is continuously updated as users report incidents.
