I suspect that the ITAR thing is that this provides for a remotely-operable weapon. You can't adjust the aim but you can see - for some distance - when your target is in the sight. So just add a bit of hardware for remote traverse/elevation and trigger operation and you have a nifty remote-operated weapon.
So DOJ is afraid to go after the Gun/scopes maker. But choose a soft target, apple/google?
they must be afraid of NRA?
Geeeze. The DOJ isn't afraid of anybody. How do you possibly come to that conclusion. The manufacturer doesn't have the info they want as listed in the article, so why waste time with them. A huge fishing expedition, and amassing a huge database.
No crime, no way. Privacy rights are designed to protect against over-zealous fishing expeditions by cops.
Did you read the article? It explains the crime that is being investigated.
Did you?
As part of an investigation into potential weapons export violations, the U.S. Department of Justice is demanding both Apple and Google furnish user information for a rifle scope monitoring and control app, a move that could impact well over 10 thousand people. ...... As noted by Forbes, the app has been downloaded over 10,000 times on the Google Play store. Usage figures for iOS are unknown, as Apple does not disclose iOS App Store numbers. If successful, the order would net the government an enormous amount of private user information in one fell swoop, including data of consumers who are not participating in illegal activity.
a fishing exercise, a privacy violation, a violation of civil rights.
I suspect that the ITAR thing is that this provides for a remotely-operable weapon. You can't adjust the aim but you can see - for some distance - when your target is in the sight. So just add a bit of hardware for remote traverse/elevation and trigger operation and you have a nifty remote-operated weapon.
So, they have reason to suspect that a crime has been committed (illegal export of the scopes in question.) someone downloading the app from A banned country would potentially be evidence that the scopes were exported there. Attempting to find this out is not an unreasonable step by the authorities.
Getting all the information they asked for seems excessive, but what about just the IP addresses? Or a list of non-US IP addresses? If they see an address that’s suspicious they could then request the information for that specific account. That should give them the relevant information without being overly broad.
Comments
Regardless of the gun stance, Apple and google should fight this.
a fishing exercise, a privacy violation, a violation of civil rights.
Getting all the information they asked for seems excessive, but what about just the IP addresses? Or a list of non-US IP addresses? If they see an address that’s suspicious they could then request the information for that specific account. That should give them the relevant information without being overly broad.