In October 2019, Apple rejected HKmap.live, a police tracking app in Hong Kong, but then reversed course to allow the app to appear on its App Store. A few days later, Apple pulled the app from its App Store, claiming that it found the app “has been used in ways that endanger law enforcement and residents in Hong Kong” after investigation.

Apple has been criticized for the move while the app developer said in a statement that “We disagree with Apple’s claim that our app endangered anyone”

Tim Cook, Apple CEO defended the decision, saying that they “received credible information, from the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau, as well as from users in Hong Kong, that the app was being used maliciously to target individual officers for violence and to victimise individuals and property where no police are present… we thoroughly reviewed them, and we believe this decision best protects our users.”