EU antitrust chief ready to get on Apple's case about fees and safety warnings

"I would think of it as unwise to say that the services are not safe to use, because that has nothing to do with the DMA," Vestager said about the warnings. "The DMA is there to open the market for other service providers to get to you and how your service provider of your operating system, how they will make sure that it is safe is for them to decide."

Uhhhhh...if the other service providers get to decide how "safe it is" then why wouldn't Apple be allowed to say there are risks? Vestager just admitted that the DMA doesn't have security standards. Didn't the EU previously claim that App Store users would have no idea that they could pay for things on the internet unless a message inside the app told them they could do it? But now Apple isn't allowed to communicate that the security standards will be different...which is definitely true according to Vestager herself.

“Aye, aye! and I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up.”

"how they will make sure it is safe is for them to decide"

Security is always the last item on the list of priorities for the EU.

mikethemartian said:

“Aye, aye! and I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up.”

LOL...Moby Apple, the rainbow whale that ate Nokia and Ericcson's smartphones. 

foregoneconclusion said:

"I would think of it as unwise to say that the services are not safe to use, because that has nothing to do with the DMA," Vestager said about the warnings. "The DMA is there to open the market for other service providers to get to you and how your service provider of your operating system, how they will make sure that it is safe is for them to decide."

Uhhhhh...if the other service providers get to decide how "safe it is" then why wouldn't Apple be allowed to say there are risks? Vestager just admitted that the DMA doesn't have security standards. Didn't the EU previously claim that App Store users would have no idea that they could pay for things on the internet unless a message inside the app told them they could do it? But now Apple isn't allowed to communicate that the security standards will be different...which is definitely true according to Vestager herself.

Bingo.

Apple offers a number of consumer protection benefits for users of third-party apps downloaded through the App Store, and in-app subscriptions and purchases handled through the App Store. Apps are reviewed for compatibility and compliance with consumer data collection standards, including required transparency and permissions for collection and use of certain user data. In-app subscriptions can be stopped as easily as they are started. The list goes on. 

For third-party app stores, these things - by definition - will not be handled by Apple, and Apple can't guarantee that similar standards will be maintained by operators of third-party app stores. They not only should be allowed to communicate this, an actual consumer protection law should probably require that this be communicated.

As much as the EU seems to be actively pretending it's not the case, the primary reason that some app developers want to have access to the iOS platform outside the App Store, is specifically because they want to defy Apple's standards for security, privacy and consumer protections. They want to collect and sell user data and they want to implement in-app sales and subscription practices that don't meet Apple's standards.