During this year’s Web Summit, a technology conference that is held annually in Lisbon, Portugal, Apple’s Craig Federighi, the Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at the company, gave a hearty speech. Most of his 15-minute speech centered around the EU’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to bring more competition to the digital market.
When talking about the proposed act, Federighi said that through their system built on “privacy and security,” Apple could “stay one step ahead of the bad guys.” He believes that if the new act was to be implemented, “the floodgates are open for malware.”
To prove his point, Federighi used a pie chart which shows how infected by malware other companies like Windows and Android are, compared to Apple, which barely appeared on the chart. Apple firmly believes that the AppStore’s long-lasting security and safety will be put to risk by the freedom imposed by the new act.
He also added that Apple’s goal was never to sell as many units as possible, alluding to the fact that only 1 in 5 people own an iPhone in Europe. Instead, the company aims to “Provide people with a choice of what we view as the best.”
Apple’s approach of only employing human app review, along with a single point of distribution, has severely limited malware. In contrast, there are over 5 million malware attacks on Android devices each month, according to a recent study, which Federighi alluded to in his speech. The biggest reason for that, he said, was “that other platforms allow sideloading.”
Federighi also used a house analogy to demonstrate the adverse effects that the DMA would have on the App Store in Europe and the digital space as a whole. “The home you had has kept you safe. But now, that new law gets passed…your town requires everyone to build an always unlocked side door,” said Federighi, “The safe house that you chose now has a fatal flaw in its security system.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook made similar comments about the DMA soon after it was announced, so it isn’t surprising that the company still has a hard stance against the change.
However, not all people in the industry agree with Apple’s comments. Many criticized the US company for thinking that their approach is superior and no others should be allow.
Whether the DMA ends up getting passed remains to be seen, and if it does, it is expected to jump into power around the midway point of 2022.
References
https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/apple-sent-craig-federighi-to-websummit-with-a-dire-warning-about-privacy-he-forgot-just-1-important-thing.html
https://fossbytes.com/apples-craig-federighi-says-dma-will-open-pandoras-box-of-malware/
