Apple and Google warn of harmful consequences to user privacy and security from two proposed Senate antitrust bills scheduled to be considered this week

- Apple warned in a letter on Tuesday that antitrust bills being considered in the Senate would increase the risk of security breaches to iPhone users.

CNBC 2022-01-19

Context & Ripple Effects

The Senate debate follows a bipartisan push to rein in Apple and Google’s app-store control, including a House companion to the Open App Markets Act. Apple and Google are recasting that competition fight as a user-protection issue rather than solely a dispute over platform rules.

The opposition became part of a wider legislative playbook: later in 2022, CCIA, Meta, Amazon and others intensified their campaign against adding antitrust bills to spending legislation.

First-order effects

Apple and Google put privacy, security and iPhone breach risk at the center of the Senate’s consideration, giving lawmakers a concrete counterweight to the case for app-store restrictions.
The companies’ app-store policies become the immediate focal point of the bills, because the warnings tie changes to those policies directly to protections for their users.

Second-order effects

A broader tech-industry opposition effort gains a security-based argument alongside its competition objections, a position later echoed by CCIA, Meta and Amazon in their campaign against the legislation.
Senators weighing app-store remedies face a sharper trade-off between opening platform access and preserving the safeguards Apple and Google say their current controls provide.

Third-order effects

If this framing persists, app-store antitrust fights will increasingly turn on which party bears responsibility for security failures after mandated platform access changes.
Apple’s later privacy objections to proposed DMA access requirements indicate that security arguments are becoming a repeatable defense of platform control across jurisdictions and product categories.

The trend: Platform owners are increasingly treating privacy and security as the central boundary in regulatory efforts to force greater access to their ecosystems.

Discussion

@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
Google is saying that if Congress passes stronger antitrust rules for big tech then you could die. https://blog.google/...
@keleftheriou Kosta Eleftheriou on x
“We believe that restricting what apps you can run on your devices is a fundamental human right.” - Tim Cook, probably https://9to5mac.com/...
@lutherlowe Luther Lowe on x
NEW: A historic coalition of 40+ small and medium sized tech companies have signed a letter in support of ⁦@amyklobuchar⁩/⁦ @ChuckGrassley⁩'s bill to curb the most egregious self-dealing by Google/Apple/Amazon/Facebook https://wesupportsb2992.medium.com/ ...
@rileytestut @rileytestut on x
Apple Legal misleading Congress yet again in order to make their scare tactics more effective 🙄 Sideloading does *not* imply direct installation from the internet. It simply means that there is *some* method to install apps outside the App Store. https://twitter.com/... https://t…
@mikarv Michael Veale on x
Examples are lol. But seriously, some academics/commentators need to realise that idea that 'security/CoMo isn't possible' in a less madly centralised world is ITSELF a symptom of GAFAM having zero incentive to either design or help us imagine how it *could* work. 🧵 https://twitt…
@beteropdefiets Christian D'Cunha on x
That a private company, confronted for the first time with possible regulation, can issue such veiled threats - with a degree of credibility - to an entire society and the economy is in itself an unwitting admission of excessive market power. https://twitter.com/...
@themaverickws @themaverickws on x
iMob: “If you break our monopoly, God forbid your privacy might...say... get harmed!” https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@pathedger18 Patrick Hedger on x
In this article, you'll see the comments of people who work for career politicians saying companies can basically just “nerd harder” to address cybersecurity concerns. Sorry, no. Armchair quarterbacking cybersecurity is unacceptable from our leaders. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@sadbillackman @sadbillackman on x
You were literally about to scan all of our pictures on our phones. $AAPL https://twitter.com/...
@bigblackjacobin Edward Ongweso Jr on x
pls don't do antitrust u might get hacked 🥺👉👈 https://9to5mac.com/...
@bigblackjacobin Edward Ongweso Jr on x
this is hysterical bullshit https://blog.google/...
@richardsocher Richard Socher on x
I've signed in my support to improve consumer experiences, curb monopolies abusing their power and preventing competition. So needed for search and the entire economy. https://twitter.com/...
@jonschweppe Jon Schweppe on x
Big Tech is taking advantage of the safetyism epidemic to rally opposition against antitrust action. If it could save one monopoly's life... https://twitter.com/...
@yegg Gabriel Weinberg on x
Dominant tech cos use self-preferencing tactics to undermine competition and consumer choice. We encourage Congress to act and help restore competition online by voting for the American Innovation and Choice Online Act in this Thur's markup meeting. https://wesupportsb2992.medium…
@yousearchengine @yousearchengine on x
https://you.com/ joined 40+ other companies in signing an open letter urging the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to vote favorably for S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. Read the letter here: https://wesupportsb2992.medium.com/ ...
@elkmovie Michael Love on x
Bill would “hurt competition” by... forcing them to allow competing App Stores. (but I'm glad that they're interpreting it as allowing sideloading, that's going to make it that much harder to argue otherwise in court later) https://www.macrumors.com/...
@sachalouise Sacha Haworth on x
Some scare tactics from #BigTech here. FACTS: 🔎 Nothing in #AICO forces @Apple to let in malware 🔎 AICO requires a level playing field by outlawing unfair preferencing 🔎 Big Tech doesn't like this bc they boost their own services over competitors' https://www.cnbc.com/...
@timothypmurphy Tim Murphy on x
Google exec warns that regulating Google will make Google's search function worse, which, lol https://blog.google/... https://twitter.com/...
@sadlyitsbradley Brad Lynch on x
Sideloading causes cancer. Think of the children! https://www.cnbc.com/...
@quinnypig Corey Quinn on x
That's funny, a lot of are warning of harmful consequences to user privacy and security from Apple and Google. https://twitter.com/...
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
Google out today with a blog post on why the antitrust bill are bad and ummmm I always thought competition was good for consumers https://blog.google/... https://twitter.com/...
@william_fitz William Fitzgerald on x
this whole thread is hilarious. “I'm also going to say other politically charged things to hide the fact I'm not saying anything” - kent in one thread, jane eviscerates google's best arguments from a massive antitrust policy, legal, product, and comms team. scarlet for them. http…
@cagoldberglaw Carrie Goldberg on x
Goooooorgeous thread about poor baby internet company exec ❤️💛💚 💙 https://twitter.com/...
@jenn_elias Jennifer Elias on x
Google's Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker similarly argued that the bills could make their products less secure by preventing Google from integrating automated security features or making it harder to detect security risks across products. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@bigblackjacobin Edward Ongweso Jr on x
pls don't do antitrust u might die 🥺👉👈 https://blog.google/...
@karissabe Karissa Bell on x
Google: antitrust legislation could kill you https://blog.google/... https://twitter.com/...
@nathanpevans Nate Evans on x
MUST READ > While Apple & Google continue to tell the same stale lies about the Klobuchar/Grassley bill, dozens of tech companies are announcing support of the legislation. Many of them, including the incubator that launched Air BnB, are getting in the fight for the 1st time http…

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