Law enforcementSenators target apps that help drunk drivers avoid police

Published 29 March 2011

Four U.S. senators recently urged Apple, Google, and RIM to remove all apps from their online application stores that could assist drunk drivers or other criminals evade law enforcement officials; in response to the senator’s letter, RIM, announced that it would stop selling apps that help drunk drivers or criminals avoid police detection; the PhantomALERT app taps into a phone’s GPS device and alerts the driver of any active law enforcement zone including checkpoints, speed cameras, and speed traps; since the senator’s letter sales have increased nearly 3,000 percent and downloads were up by 5,000 percent; another similar app has eleven million users

PhantomALERT advertisement // Source: wareground.com

Four U.S. senators recently urged Apple, Google, and RIM to remove all apps from their online application stores that could assist drunk drivers or other criminals evade law enforcement officials.

In a letter sent to the technology companies Senators Harry Reid (D – Nevada), Charles Schumer (D-New York), Frank Lautenberg (D- New Jersey), and Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), wrote, “We appreciate the technology that has allowed millions of Americans to have information at their fingertips, but giving drunk drivers a free tool to evade checkpoints, putting innocent families and children at risk, is a matter of public concern.”

They continued, “We hope that you will give our request to make these applications unavailable immediate consideration.”

The letter only mentioned the PhantomALERT app which taps into a phone’s GPS device and alerts the driver of any active law enforcement zone including checkpoints, speed cameras, and speed traps. The app can be purchased for $9.99 a month and works with any GPS enabled device.

The senators believe that such technology endangers lives by letting criminals or drunk drivers stay on the road and avoid police.

In response to the senator’s letter, RIM, which manufacturers Blackberry smartphones, announced that it would stop selling apps that help drunk drivers or criminals avoid police detection.

According to Joe Scott, the CEO of PhantomALERT, sales have increased nearly 3,000 percent and downloads were up by 5,000 percent after the senators issued the letter.

“In a way, they’re kind of helping us,” Scott said.

 

Aside from PhantomALERT, Trapster offers a similar app and is far more popular with more than eleven million users.

Pete Tenereillo says that the senators have misconstrued their technology and that the app does not encourage drunk drivers.

He said, “Our obvious and strong hope is that we would not encourage people to drive drunk.”

He added that the app was actually a “deterrent” and that it even encouraged users to take a taxi if a checkpoint popped up.

Tenereillo also noted that DUI checkpoints are frequently announced on Twitter and Facebook already.

Scott agreed with Tenereillo remarks adding, “If (the senators) actually found out what PhantomALERT is all about and how we help drivers they’d actually support us. It’s just a knee-jerk reaction. … We help drivers avoid traffic tickets by helping them obey traffic laws.”

Scott went on to note that the apps simply gathered publicly available data on checkpoints as the police themselves frequently send out press releases on where and when they will institute checkpoints.

Dismissing these claims in a written statement, Senator Schumer said, “”These applications are nothing more than a how-to guide in avoiding law enforcement and they provide drunk drivers with the tools they need to go undetected, putting innocent families and children at risk.”