Apple has been warned by the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, not to use privacy and security concerns as a shield for anticompetitive behavior. In an interview with Reuters, Vestager said that while she shares Apple’s concerns about privacy and security, competition is just as important.
Vestager’s comments come after Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke out against the proposed Digital Markets Act in Europe, which was first unveiled last December. According to Cook, this legislation could lead to changes that seriously “destroy the security of the iPhone.”
Speaking to Reuters today, Vestager explained that she does not believe customers will be giving up privacy or security if they sideload:
Among other things, the proposed Digital Markets Act in Europe could lead to major changes for the App Store and pre-installed first-party applications on the iPhone.
“” think privacy and security is of paramount importance to everyone. 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,” she said.
It would also force Apple to allow side-loading on the iPhone, which is something Cook strongly pushes back against. If Apple had to allow side-loading, Cook said last month, then features like App Store nutrition labels and App Tracking Transparency “would not exist anymore.”
Vestager, however, did praise Apple’s recent privacy features such as App Tracking Transparency, which gives users the ability to choose whether applications can track them:
There is no timetable on when the Digital Markets Act could go into effect, but Apple is also under scrutiny for Apple Music in Europe.
“As I have said, I think actually several times, that it is a good thing when providers give us the service that we can easily set our preferences if we want to be tracked outside the use of an app or not as long as it’s the same condition for everyone. So far, we have no reason to believe that this is not the case for Apple,” she said.
