UK takes 'light touch' approach to regulating Apple and Google's app stores
Source: Engadget
Background
Last year the UK declared that Apple and Google were a duopoly with “strategic market status” in the mobile platforms market, making them subject to special regulations.
CMA’s “Light‑Touch” Approach
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will not regulate Google’s and Apple’s app stores in the same way as the EU. Instead, the government plans to enforce its digital markets rules pragmatically by accepting commitments from the two companies in areas such as:
- App review
- App ranking
- Use of data
- Interoperability processes
Regulators require the tech giants to treat developers fairly, especially when they compete against the companies’ own apps. However, the UK’s rules are more like suggestions and “not legally binding in any case,” former CMA director Tom Smith told the Financial Times.
Comparison with the EU’s Digital Markets Act
The EU’s Digital Markets Act forced Apple to:
- Open up iOS features and data to rivals
- Allow app installations from outside its App Store
- Reduce fees collected on purchases
The UK’s approach is less prescriptive, but the CMA will monitor metrics such as the number of apps approved or rejected, review times, and developer complaints. If Apple or Google routinely decline interoperability requests without good reason, the CMA could introduce specific interoperability requirements. Non‑compliance could lead the CMA to reconsider using commitments in the future.
Company Reactions
- Google: In a blog post, Google said it “welcomed the opportunity to resolve the CMA’s concerns collaboratively.”
- Apple: An Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg that the commitments “allow Apple to continue advancing important privacy and security innovations for users and great opportunities for developers.”
Geopolitical Context
The UK’s light‑touch stance may be aimed at avoiding friction with the United States. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the US would soon attack the EU over digital regulation issues such as data privacy, digital taxation, and proposals to ban children from social media.