Singer Billie Eilish was caused by the crime app: How to avoid the same fate

Popular crime-reporting app Citizen, designed to keep you safe by sending you “public safety” alerts, has released Grammy-winning pop star Billie Eilish’s home address.

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This is not the first time that the app has been criticized for major bugs and people are starting to worry about whether the app is safe.

Billie Eilish’s home address was published on the Citizen app.
(@billieeilish)

How did Billie Eilish’s title get revealed?

Eilish’s residence in Los Angeles was broken into on January 5. Shortly after the incident, the Citizen app notified users of a burglary in the Highland Park area for the safety of those nearby.

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However, the message was updated at 9.41pm to say the home belonged to the famous singer and published the exact address. The next morning, the app removed the exact address and replaced it with a nearby cross street.

According to statistics published on the Citizen app, the news reached 178,000 people and was viewed by at least 78,000 people. However, the person responsible for the burglary was caught and arrested by the LAPD later that evening.

Why was the Citizen able to publish the exact address?

The Citizen app needs access to the user’s location data to function properly and will notify them if a crime is happening nearby. There is a long privacy policy on their website.

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They explain that geolocation data is only used to “send you security notifications about reported events near you, share your location with friends you connect with on the platform, and provide and improve our services.”

However, this only applies to users of the app and not to victims of reported crimes. So it needs to be clarified why or how Eilish’s address was made public. While it’s common for celebrities’ addresses to be searchable on the Internet, this has never before been distributed to thousands of people on a popular app.

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Eilish’s home is blurred out on Google Maps, suggesting she wants to maintain some semblance of privacy.

Read on to find out how you can stay safe on the Citizen app.

If I am a Citizen user, how can I protect myself?

We understand why people want to keep using Citizen because it has some really useful features (get it here: iOS | Android). The purpose of the app is to alert people to dangerous situations around them, while at the same time telling people to stay away and let law enforcement do their job. With that said, here are some ways to stay safe on Citizen:

• Turn off Precise Location for Citizen
  Go to yours Settings application Scroll down to the option Citizen

  Under CITIZEN’S ACCESS select it Location

  Turn off the Exact Location Option.

• Go to yours Settings approx
• Scroll down to the option Citizen
• Under CITIZEN’S ACCESS select it Location
• Turn off the Exact Location Option.
• Allow only citizen access to your location while using the app
  Go to yours Settings application Scroll down to the option Citizen

  Under CITIZEN’S ACCESS select it Location

  Select it While using the application.

• Go to yours Settings approx
• Scroll down to the option Citizen
• Under CITIZEN’S ACCESS select it Location
• Select it While using the application.
• Don’t give your exact address to the appWhen setting up the app, Citizen may ask for your exact address so that it can better monitor crime near you. If this makes you uncomfortable, don’t share it.
• When setting up the app, Citizen may ask for your exact address so that it can better monitor crime near you. If this makes you uncomfortable, don’t share it.

What do you think of the Citizen app and what has been your experience using it? We want to hear from you.

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