AAPL
By Kimberley Kao and Edith Hancock
Apple called out Meta Platforms for trying to gain access to key software tools on iPhones, a criticism that comes as the European Union is ramping up its efforts to force the iPhone maker to give developers greater access to its technology.
Apple said late Wednesday that it is concerned that companies might "attempt to abuse" the EU's Digital Markets Act--a new rule book designed to curb the dominance of tech companies like Apple in the digital economy--to access sensitive user data.
The warning shot comes on the back of the European Commission's decision to send recommendations to Apple on what it needs to do to comply with the law.
The EU's executive arm late Wednesday proposed measures for Apple to adopt to ensure its operating systems are functional with other technologies. The measures stem from proceedings earlier this year and the commission is expected to rule on whether Apple is complying with the DMA's interoperability provisions next March.
The regulator proposed that Apple features such as iOS notifications and AirDrop file transfer be open to third-party developers. It also told Apple to give rivals' smartwatches and other wearable technology the same access to the company's iPhone operating system it gives to its own Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro.
Solutions provided "will have to be equally effective to those available to Apple and must not require more cumbersome system settings or additional user friction," the commission said. It set a Jan 9. deadline for companies and interested groups to comment on its suggestions.
Apple in turn said it is worried about iPhone users' safety if it is forced to give competitors better access to the device's closed operating system. It said Meta had made 15 requests to access Apple's technology stack that would reduce protections around personal data on the company's devices. "No company has made more interoperability requests of Apple than Meta," the iPhone maker said.
"If Apple were to have to grant all of these requests, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp could enable Meta to read on a user's device all of their messages and emails, see every phone call they make or receive, track every app that they use, scan all of their photos, look at their files and calendar events, log all of their passwords, and more," Apple said.
Meta had sought access to technologies including iPhone mirroring, AirPlay, devices connected with Bluetooth and connectivity to all of a user's Apple devices, Apple said.
"What Apple is actually saying...is they just don't believe in interoperability," Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in a social-media post on X. "Every time Apple is called out for anticompetitive behavior, they defend themselves on privacy grounds that have no basis in reality."
Companies can get fined 10% of their worldwide annual turnover for flouting the rules and the commission can order them to break up parts of their business in extreme cases.
Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com and Edith Hancock at edith.hancock@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-19-24 0645ET