// Security NEWS // Abuse of Apple Towards Apps Tierces? A Security Imperative
According to an article of the New York Times published last week, Apple had removed 11 out of the 17 most popular parental control apps in the App Store. These apps are used to monitor time spent on iPhones. Parents use them to keep an eye on their children and on the content they have access to.
Source
”In some cases, Apple forced companies to remove features that allowed parents to control their children’s devices or that blocked children’s access to certain apps and adult content. In other cases, it simply pulled the apps from its App Store”, the NYT reports.
Apple’s great powers on apps
And for some of these apps makers, the reason for these retaliatory measures is simple: the announcement of screen time limit and usage limit tools in iOS 12 in September. Apple would thus blame them for competing with him.
Absolutely not, refutes the Mountain View firm. The reason the apps in question were removed was not due to competition with this service but rather that they "put users' privacy and security at risk".
The main concern was the use of Mobile Device Management (MDM) software in some of the parental control applications. The MDM gives third parties to remote control over a system and is able to access information such as location data, application usage, browsing history and email accounts, among other functions.
These MDM functions are often found in spyware and stalkerware, and thus also parental control applications and enterprise apps installed on company devices.
“Parents shouldn't have to trade their fears of their children's device usage for risks to privacy and security, and the App Store should not be a platform to force this choice", Apple says. "No one, except you, should have unrestricted access to manage your child's device".
The Shadow of Dominance Abuse
The giant also wants to point out that the offending apps were given 30 days to update their creations to fall in line with App Store guidelines. Some developers have achieved the expected changes, while others have seen their apps removed from the App Store.
"Apple has always supported third-party apps on the App Store that help parents manage their kids' devices," the company added. "Contrary to what The New York Times reported over the weekend, this isn't a matter of competition. It's a matter of security".
This is not the first disagreement between Apple and iOS app developers, nor certainly the last. Apple and Spotify are thus still in conflict, the streaming service saying that the rules of the App Store "purposely limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience".
In a complaint filed with the European Commission, Spotify denounces Apple’s tax on in-app purchases as unfair. Apple refuted these charges, claiming that the majority of apps hosted in the App Store are exempt from this commission, reduced to 15% after the first year.
Sources : The New York Times and ZDNet
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