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PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania hospital system has asked the maker of the cellphone game "Pokemon Go" to remove its hospital sites from the game app for reasons of safety, patient privacy and computer security, a newspaper reports.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports (http://bit.ly/2a4OsJR ) an internal memo to hospital workers, obtained Thursday, shows the seven-hospital system Allegheny Health Network has demanded Niantic remove the system's locations from the app.
The health system also told workers to report people taking unauthorized pictures and look for people loitering in common areas.
"Watch out for people walking around focused on their smartphone virtual world and not on their immediate surroundings — which is a concern for patients and visitors in our facilities," the memo stated.
Niantic didn't immediately return a request for comment.
The augmented reality app released in the U.S. earlier this month has led people to various places to collect digital monsters — including hospitals. The game uses the smartphones' camera and GPS to have players look for virtual creatures.
The memo said the system's locations are included as gym locations in the app because they're technically public places. Players sometimes meet at the gyms.
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Information from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, http://pghtrib.com
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