Thursday, January 29, 2015

Police to Google: Disable Cop Tracking in Waze

A law enforcement campaign to compel Google Inc. to disable a feature in its popular Waze traffic app that lets drivers warn others about nearby police activity shifted Wednesday when a sheriffs’ organization openly complained that the app not only puts officers’ lives at risk, it also interferes with the ability to write speeding tickets.

The National Sheriffs’ Association, which had focused its complaints about Waze on police safety after the fatal shootings of two New York City police officers in December, expanded its campaign in a new statement criticizing Google’s software as hampering the use of speed traps.

Waze app, which operates like a free GPS navigation tool, users can tag the locations of parked police vehicles, accidents, congestion, traffic cameras, potholes and more, so that other drivers using Waze are warned as they approach the same location.

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