EU carriers want Apple's Private Relay blocked

Four European carriers have written to the European Commission claiming that Apple's Private Relay in iOS 15 undermines "digital sovereignty," and that it should be stopped.

Apple's Private Relay, currently still in beta, is a VPN-like service for iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey, which shields users from having their precise location data revealed. It has already been revealed that Apple is not implementing the feature in all countries, and now European carriers are asking for local exclusion too.

A letter to the European Commission, sent in August 2021 and now seen by The Telegraph, four carriers have raised their objections. T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone, and Telefonica, jointly say that Apple's service "will have significant consequences in terms of undermining European digital sovereignty."

"Furthermore, private relay will impair others to innovate and compete in downstream digital markets," says the letter, "and may negatively impact operators' ability to efficiently manage telecommunication networks."

Apple could potentially be prevented from implementing Private Relay if the company is classified as a "digital gatekeeper" under the EU's Digital Markets Act. However, that act, already much delayed, has yet to be approved by European governments.

17 Comments

crowley 15 Years · 10431 comments

About 2 years ago

I don’t see how the same complaint couldn’t apply to any VPN. As long as it’s opt-in and is clear about what it is doing then I don’t see how the carriers have a leg to stand on.

MK67 2 Years · 4 comments

crowley said:

I don’t see how the same complaint couldn’t apply to any VPN. As long as it’s opt-in and is clear about what it is doing then I don’t see how the carriers have a leg to stand on.

Agree! What is the difference between already existing VPN services and Apple Private Relay?

FjordCruiser said:

As someone who lives in a European country (but not one that is a member of the E.U.) I am getting sick of the foot stamping and demands that Apple constantly has to adjust how it does business here… I love being a citizen of the applesphere but I wish Apple would show more guts and stand up to the ridiculous demands that the E.U. Is regularly pulling out of the hat! I can fully understand why so many folks in European Union countries are becoming disheartened by the shenanigans of the E.U. mandarins, they are demanding too many petty changes in the way companies like Apple conduct their business in member states. I don’t always agree with everything Apple does or says but the E.U. mandarins need to take a chill pill and concentrate on the serious matters that have a negative impact on the citizens of European Union member states… I love being the owner of iPhone 13 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 7 45mm Cellular, and AirPods Pro!

The EU isn't demanding anything here, they've just received a complaint from the carriers.

rotateleftbyte 12 Years · 1630 comments

crowley said:

The EU isn't demanding anything here, they've just received a complaint from the carriers.
The EU isn't demanding anything here YET!

Every demand has to start somewhere.
I see this as the carriers snooping on your internet activity is threatened by this. As they sell that data, they see a loss of revenue and want it banned. If that fails, they'll try increasing prices or throttling or something else.
The game of cat and mouse continues.

docbburk 7 Years · 109 comments

If the EU take this matter up, they are Muppets, with the hands of telecoms up their backside. Since when has digital sovereignty been the ability to profit from the sale of user data? Quite frankly, any company doing that should be barred from the practice, and also barred from raising prices to compensate for the los of revenue.