The Apple logo can be seen in this illustration taken on March 1, 2022. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration
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WASHINGTON, March 4 – Apple smartphone maker (AAPL.O) has written to lawmakers to challenge claims that its concerns about the dangers of side-loading phone apps are exaggerated.
Sideloading, the practice of downloading apps without using an app store, is among the reforms lawmakers hope to open up the app market.
Congress is currently considering a bill aimed at seizing Apple and Google’s Alphabet (GOOGL.O) app stores, which will require companies to allow side-loading. Apple claims that such a practice would pose a security risk as it maintains tight control over in-store applications to protect consumers.
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In a letter Thursday to key members of the U.S. Senate Justice Committee, Apple said it was aware that critic, computer security expert Bruce Schneier, had called her concerns about side-loading “unfounded.”
Apple went on to say that most malware does not rely on technical tricks to gain access to devices, but instead tricks the human user into downloading them. It said Apple’s review of apps on the App Store “creates a high barrier against the most common scams used to distribute malware.”
Apple acknowledged that Schneier was right that state-sponsored attackers could go through security controls on smartphones, but said the attacks were a “rare threat.”
“There is ample evidence that third-party application stores are a key vector of malware on platforms that support such stores,” Apple said in a letter reviewed by Reuters.
It was sent to Senate Judge Dick Durbin, Best Republican Chuck Grassley, and Amy Klobuchar, chairman of the Antitrust Subcommittee, along with Best Republican Mike Lee.
In early February, the committee voted to approve the bill. The measure will also prohibit companies from requiring application providers to use their payment system and will prohibit them from penalizing applications that offer different prices or conditions through another application store or payment system. Read more
The largest technology companies, including Meta Platforms Inc’s Facebook (FB.O) and Amazon.com, are under pressure in Congress over allegations that they are abusing their huge market power. A long list of bills aims to master them, but no one has yet become law.
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Report by Diane Bartz; Edited by Aurora Ellis
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