Schumer Grills Apple, Google About DUI Checkpoint Apps

Sen. Charles Schumer used his time at Tuesday's cell-phone tracking hearing to question Google and Apple about the inclusion of DUI checkpoint apps in their app stores.

Both companies said they are reviewing their terms and how the apps work before making any decisions about their removal.

In March, several to express concern about apps that allow users to keep tabs on—and possibly evade—DUI checkpoints, which they said was "harmful to public safety." They asked the companies to remove the apps or alter them so they do not allow for DUI checkpoint information.

RIM it would remove the apps from BlackBerry App World, but they remain in the Apple App Store and Google Android Market.

"We do have a set of content policies regarding our Android Marketplace and although we have to evaluate each app separately, apps that share information about sobriety checkpoints are not a violation of our policies," Alan Davidson, director of public policy at Google, told the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.

Google will also remove apps that are unlawful or that are spreading malware, but it does not appear that DUI checkpoint apps fall into those categories, Davidson said.

Schumer, a New York Democrat, disagreed, asking Davidson if Google would allow an app that included instructions on how to cook meth.

Davidson said that Schumer raises important questions and "we're actively discussing [this] internally and I will take this back" to those at Google.

Guy Tribble, a former physician who is now vice president of software technology at Apple, said he shared Schumer's abhorrence of drunk driving, but said "Apple, in this case, is carefully examining the situation."

"One of the things we found is that some of these apps are actually publishing data on when and where the checkpoints are [based on data] published by the police departments," Tribble said. "In some cases, the police department actually publishes when and where they're going to have a checkpoint, [though] not all of them do."

Schumer said that was a "weak read" on the situation.

"They believe that these checkpoints provide a deterrent effect," Tribble said. "I'm just saying we're in the process of looking into it. We definitely have a policy that ... will not allow apps that will encourage illegal activity."

Later, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said sometimes police departments publicize one DUI checkpoint as a means to get people to take an alternate route, where they will also have checkpoints. "There may be more strategy" involved in the posting of that information online, he said.

Schumer asked Google and Apple to notify his office within a month about whether they will remove the apps or not.

The hearing, meanwhile, focused on cell-phone tracking, and that any data it collects is anonymous and deleted after one week. Apple also said it has of its App Store for location-related infractions.