The police are planning to make Google turn off a feature on its Waze traffic software, which warns car drivers when police are nearby. They claim that the popular mobile app could put their lives in danger from the killers who can find where the police are parked.

Google acquired Waze for nearly $1bn a couple years ago. The app combines GPS navigation and social networking and accounts for 50m users in 200 countries, providing the free service for real-time traffic guidance and warnings about lots of staff, including traffic jams, accidents, traffic cameras, or unsafe weather conditions.

Despite the fact that there are no known connections between any attack on police and Waze, the police claim that Waze is a stalking app for law enforcement. Now the police are seeking support among other law enforcement trade groups to demand Google to disable this function. The function is the following: Waze users can mark police presence on maps by placing a police icon, but they can’t clarify whether police are there for a speed trap or a lunch break. The officers are normally operating in public spaces.

In respond, Waze confirmed that it takes safety and security very seriously and cooperates with the NY police department and others by sharing data. It is perfectly known that the Waze parent company, Google, has a complicated relationship with government and law enforcement, as it is often demanded to turn over to police copies of emails or other data about its customers. Last year tech firms even had to roll out encryption for users, although the American government claimed this could hamper law enforcement investigations. It is unknown whether the company will be willing to cooperate with the police on this particular matter.

The police call the app a “police stalker” and say it presents a danger to law enforcement, which is why Google has to remove the police-reporting feature from the app before any litigation or statutory action. On the other hand, the human rights groups do not think that it would be appropriate for the tech giant to disable this feature simply because it reports on publicly visible law enforcement. Instead, a bigger concern is how much data about customers Waze shares with police, because it is known that the service monitors their location continually as long as it’s turned on.

The police like anonymity but let the citizens have non. Typical behavior.

Police stalker? Yet the Police have devices that could see through homes from a distance. Talk about hypocrisy and double standards.