Apple has laid down the law on apps that warn users of DUI checkpoints.
MacRumors highlighted the change in Apple's App Store Review Guidelines.
"Apps which contain DUI checkpoints that are not published by law enforcement agencies, or encourage and enable drunk driving, will be rejected."
Advocacy groups both for and against the sharing of DUI checkpoint information have been sparring over the past few months.
In March, a group of senators fired a letter to the mobile industry heavyweights calling for a ban of such apps.
The letter from Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), Harry Reid, (D-NV), Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), and Tom Udall (D-NM) was sent to Apple, Google and RIM.
"With more than 10,000 Americans dying in drunk-driving crashes every year, providing access to iPhone and iPad applications that alert users to DUI checkpoints is harmful to public safety," they stated in the letter.
There have been a number of apps available in the major mobile software markets that alert drivers from DUI checkpoints to speed traps which often depend on crowd-sourcing.
There are some law enforcement departments that share their checkpoint information ahead of time.
Apple or any other company has the right to apply their own guidelines. Sharing the information is not illegal, but it has obvious implications as far as aiding those who abuse their driving privlages.
What if the information is shared on Facebook or Twitter? Can they be expected to police that information as well?
