Europe Chief warns Apple against using Privacy, Security to Limit Competition

July 4, 2021

2 min read

In ongoing antitrust discussions about App Store competition, Apple has maintained that allowing users to install apps outside of the ‌App Store‌ would have dire privacy consequences, but European Union digital competition chief Margrethe Vestager said today that Apple must not use privacy excuses to limit competition.

In an interview with Reuters, Vestager said that privacy and security are of “paramount importance,” but she does not believe that customers would be sacrificing security when sideloading an app.

“I think privacy and security are of paramount importance to everyone,” Vestager said, per Reuters. “The important thing here is, of course, that it’s not a shield against competition because I think customers will not give up neither security nor privacy if they use another app store or if they sideload.”

Although Vestager said she welcomed changes, other EU countries and lawmakers would have to weigh in before anything becomes law. “I think that it is possible to find solutions to this,” she told Reuters.

Vestager has been working on the Digital Markets Act in Europe, which would require Apple to let iPhone and iPad users download apps from third-party App Stores or from the internet. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in June that the proposed rules around sideloading apps would destroy the security of the ‌iPhone‌ and the privacy initiatives that have been built into the ‌App Store‌.

On the topic of the DMA, Vestager said that she is open to changes and that she believes it is possible to “find solutions,” but it is likely that Apple will continue to fight heavily against alternate app stores or sideloading apps.

The antitrust head also said that Apple’s privacy changes, as opposed to Google’s plan to block cookies, are no longer in her crosshairs for now. For his part, Cook took aim at the EU’s proposed regulations, saying the DMA could harm consumers by weakening the security of iOS devices.

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