by With the ice block app, users can mark immigration and customs authorities (ICE) within a radius of five miles. Credit – screenshots and logo with the kind permission of Joshua Aaron
An iPhone app that draws users aware of the activity of the activity of immigration and customs (Customs Enforcement) is wins with the immigration of President Donald Trump. And it turns out to be a controversial platform, with the ice on Monday.
Iceblock enables its users – according to the developer of the app – to upload the sightings of ice activities. You can determine the location on a card and offer additional information about what you have seen. Other users should then receive a push alarm within a radius of five miles, which informs them about the sighting. “See something, tap something,” says Iceblock’s slogan.
There are also measures to prevent SPAM activities. Users can only publish a viewing within a radius of five miles from their location every five minutes, and the warnings are automatically deleted after five hours.
“In recent years, ICE has been criticized that alleged civil rights violations and failures for the constitutional principles and the proper procedure comply with what makes it decisive for the municipalities to stay up to date with their business activities,” said a statement on the app’s website.
Joshua Aaron, the developer of Iceblock, describes the app in a conversation with the time that is carried out via Signal.
“When I saw what was going on in this country, I really had the feeling of doing something,” says Aaron, referring to the ice attacks that took place after Trump’s return to the White House. According to reports, over 100,000 people from ICE were reported in Trump’s second term.
Aaron grew up in a Jewish household and said that he had the opportunity to talk to Holocaust -survivors and to learn something about the history of the Nazi Germany. He argues that the current political climate, the cases of “authoritarianism” and “fascism”, observes the “history of itself”.
“The app is 100% anonymous and free of charge for everyone who wants to use. We do not collect user data. We don’t even capture User data. This is extremely important, ”says Aaron and recognizes the privacy that people may have. Therefore, the app is not available on Android, since it is” needed a device -id to send push notifications for which a user account and a password are required “.
However, ICE is concerned about the potential security effects on its agents.
In response to a commentary application, ICE referred to the time to explain the incumbent director Todd Lyon, who described the app “Diseases” and said that it “draws a goal for the back of the federal official of the law enforcement officers” and “stimulating violence”.
Aaron hopes that the app, the iPhone users was made available in April, will be used as a tool to avoid interactions with ice agents instead of users who are directly involved in potential changes.
“The app should be informed, not hindered. This means that people do not have this confrontation at all,” Aaron says and reacts to consideration that people could use the app to locate and confront ice lodges.
This feeling is also supported by a warning that was issued the Iceblock users, which is: “Please note that the use of this app only serves for information and notification purposes. It must not be used for the purpose of attracting violence or interfering in the law enforcement authorities.”
Since returning to the White House, Trump has made the country’s immigration policy again, also through ice attacks in large cities. The recent raids in Los Angeles triggered mass protests. Trump replied by using the California National Guard and later the Marines without the request of the state governor Gavin Newsom, which led too much criticism and a legal struggle. A court ultimately decided that Trump was allowed to keep control of the national guard in LA
Aaron noticed a dramatic increase in users during the recent surprise in LA
“Before [the protests started]There were around 2,500 users and I was thrilled. Then I signed up two days later and there were over 20,000 users and the app was number 32 for “social networking” in the App Store, “he says.
Protests against ice attacks spread rapidly in the USA, whereby people in cities such as New York, Chicago and San Antonio take to the streets. Aaron says he did not record where users downloaded the app or registered the sightings to protect the privacy of the users.
The app is available in 14 languages, including Arabic, Spanish, Hindi and Nepali, each added after the development team has been examined to search for the most frequently used languages apart from English.
In the middle of the surprise about Iceblock, Aaron says that his ultimate goal is to look for the community. “When I see things like ice cream outside of primary schools, we try to push back against it because they have to do more. They have to protect their neighbors,” he says.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
