Lawmakers Suggest Apple May be Using Privacy 'as a Shield for Anti-Competitive Behavior’
MrPlow writes:
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Apple has faced criticism from lawmakers for several reasons recently, including its presence in China and its repair programs. Now, The Washington Post reports that Apple is being questioned for using its focus on user privacy as a "guise for anti-competitive behavior."
The concern comes from Congressman David N. Cicilline, a Democrat from Rhode Island who serves as chairman of the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee. Cicilline explained that he's concerned about "the use of privacy as a shield for anticompetitive behavior."
The lawmaker went on to explain that a "strong privacy law" in the United States would mean that companies like Apple would no longer have to regulate privacy themselves:
"I'm increasingly concerned about the use of privacy as a shield for anti-competitive conduct," said Rep. David N. Cicilline (R.I.), who serves as chairman of the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee. "There is a growing risk that without a strong privacy law in the United States, platforms will exploit their role as de facto private regulators by placing a thumb on the scale in their own favor."
Cicilline's concern was prompted by the changes Apple made to location services in iOS 13. Essentially, Apple has cracked down on the access that third-party applications have to a user's location, and made more information about to users about when an app is using their location. Lawmakers are now concerned that Apple itself has access to additional location data that is not available to competitors.
Source: https://9to5mac.com/2019/11/26/apple-privacy-anti-trust-concern/
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