Apple says it has removed several parental control apps from its App Store over concerns about users鈥� privacy and security, not because it is limiting competition or thwarting efforts to confront phone addiction.
The company shot back Monday against a that documented the complaints of a number of app-makers who said Apple had removed their products from the App Store since it launched similar tools of its own.
鈥淧arents shouldn鈥檛 have to trade their fears of their children鈥檚 device usage for risks to privacy and security, and the App Store should not be a platform to force this choice. No one, except you, should have unrestricted access to manage your child鈥檚 device,鈥�
The developers claimed Apple was stunting competition and providing screen time tools that are more limited in terms of controlling screen time for children or adults.
鈥淐an you really trust that Apple wants people to spend less time on their phones?鈥� Fred Stutzman, chief executive of Freedom, was quoted by the New York Times as saying. His app had 770,000 App Store downloads before it was removed in August.
The New York Times said its analysis found that Apple removed or restricted at least 11 of the 17 most downloaded screen-time and parental-control apps. Apple added Screen Time to its mobile operating system in September, which lets people control the amount of time their kids are on devices, along with tracking their own usage.
That addition comes amid growing concern and agitation about smartphone addiction among young and old alike.
In the statement Monday, Apple says it became aware in the last year that several apps designed to give parents control over their kids鈥� screen time were using a 鈥渉ighly invasive technology鈥� called mobile device management.
鈥淢DM gives a third party control and access over a device and its most sensitive information including user location, app use, email accounts, camera permissions, and browsing history,鈥� the company said.
Apple says it began exploring the use of MDM by developers in early 2017 and then updated its guidelines a few months later.
鈥淢DM does have legitimate uses. Businesses will sometimes install MDM on enterprise devices to keep better control over proprietary data and hardware. But it is incredibly risky鈥攁nd a clear violation of App Store policies鈥攆or a private, consumer-focused app business to install MDM control over a customer鈥檚 device.鈥�
Apple added that research has shown that MDM profiles could be accessed by hackers.
And, Apple says, there are still competitors to its products in the App Store across a range of categories, including parental tracks.
鈥淎pple has always supported third-party apps on the App Store that help parents manage their kids鈥� devices. Contrary to what The New York Times reported over the weekend, this isn鈥檛 a matter of competition. It鈥檚 a matter of security.鈥�
Apple says it gave developers not complying with its guidelines 30 days to update their apps and those that didn鈥檛 were removed.
But app developers documented to the New York Times that Apple provided few details when it demanded changes to the apps in question and was slow in responding to questions. For many of the developers, Apple鈥檚 platform provided the majority of its revenue.
There are growing concerns about Apple鈥檚 dominance in the marketplace, especially as it expands its footprints in TV, gaming and news.
Two popular parental-control apps, Kidslox and Qustodio, filed a complaint with the European Union鈥檚 competition office on Thursday. Apple also faces an antitrust complaint in Russia.
will 鈥渋nvestigate whether Apple abuses the position it has attained with its App Store,鈥� initially focused on Dutch apps for news media that offer their apps in Apple鈥檚 App Store. Music streaming service Spotify also complained to European regulators in March that Apple was using its App Store to give its own streaming service an advantage.
Jason Furman, a professor of economic policy at Harvard and a former adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama, led a group behind a report commissioned by the British government that for the tech sector last month. He called it 鈥渙ne of the most important economic policy questions鈥� in the world today.
In the U.S., Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate who is aiming to rein in technology giants, has proposed requiring Apple to sever its App Store in order to level the playing field.
