As a longtime iPhone user directly affected, I’ve followed the rollout of the European Union’s big Digital Markets Act (DMA) over the past few years, wondering how it might impact not only the Apple products I use all the time but also other devices and services from tech companies that are deemed gatekeepers in the region.
I’ve also often criticized the DMA and what the EU is trying to do in the region to improve competition and user access to services. With the DMA now fully implemented, I can’t see anything I like about the iPhone and iPad features Apple has to deploy. I do not want iPhone sideloading, third-party app stores, and third-party payment systems on my devices.
I’ve also looked at what others are doing related to the DMA, namely Meta, which has been quite vocal about bringing interoperability to WhatsApp. As a user of the latter, I said I’d never bridge any chat app with WhatsApp. Instead, I’d download a separate chat app if need be to talk to one of my contacts. I was wondering what Meta’s endgame was all along, and the recent Meta-Apple developments have answered my questions.
It looks like Meta made no fewer than 15 interoperability requests (and counting) from Apple under the DMA laws. That would explain why Meta is so keen on having WhatsApp appear to be interoperable with other services. It’s a way to say that Meta is doing the interoperability work to claim similar benefits from rivals like Apple.
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However, Apple has released a report that details the privacy implications of Meta’s requests. Apple says that if it were to make the changes Meta wants, the giant social network provider could gain access to iPhone and iPad features that should always be private.
I know what you must be thinking. This is a battle between tech giants, and the user might not really win. I get that. But I’m also an iPhone user in the EU who will be impacted directly by what happens in this particular case.
More importantly, I’m old enough to remember which of these two tech giants protected user privacy better and which has had to deal with the most user privacy violations of the two. That’s why it’s a no-brainer to choose Apple’s side on this and hope the EU will do the same.
Whatever happens, I’ll never grant Meta the kind of access it’s requesting Apple. It’ll still be up to the user to really want interoperability from competing services.
So what does Meta want? According to Apple’s report, Meta wants access to iPhone and iPad features that would endanger user privacy. From the document:
As we strive to comply with the DMA, we carefully review each interoperability request we receive. As an example of our concerns, Meta has made 15 requests (and counting) for potentially far-reaching access to Apple’s technology stack that, if granted as sought, would reduce the protections around personal data that our users have come to expect from their devices.
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. This is data that Apple itself has chosen not to access to provide the strongest possible protection to users.
It’s not just about Meta. If the EU makes Apple approve all of Meta’s requests or many of them, other companies might follow. That could include more malicious actors who can’t wait to get their hands to more access inside the iPhone and iPad.
Apple also lists the iPhone and iPad technologies Meta would like access to under the DMA, as seen above. It also provides specific examples of Meta’s requests regarding iMessage, AirPlay, App Intents, and CarPlay.
“In many cases, Meta is seeking to alter functionality in a way that raises concerns about the privacy and security of users, and that appears to be completely unrelated to the actual use of Meta external devices, such as Meta smart glasses and Meta Quests,” Apple said in a comment to Reuters.
Meta provided its own comment, accusing Apple of using privacy as a shield to avoid interoperability. “What Apple is actually saying is they don’t believe in interoperability,” a Meta spokesperson told Reuters. “Every time Apple is called out for its anticompetitive behavior, they defend themselves on privacy grounds that have no basis in reality.”
Again, one of these companies has always tried to protect user privacy, while the other has been involved in privacy scandals. I choose to side with the former.
Apple is appealing to the EU to safeguard user privacy in Europe. This privacy is already enshrined in the GDPR legislation but might be skirted by DMA interoperability changes. The European Commission announced it’s holding consultations on the proposed measures that Apple should implement to ensure interoperability between iOS, iPadOS, and other operating systems.
The Commission’s press release covers the consultations, stating that interested parties (citizens, companies, organizations, and developers) can submit feedback by January 9th.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens after that. By March, the EU will evaluate the feedback received and make specific interoperability compliance requests to Apple.
