Apple was hit by a lawsuit claiming it rejected a coronavirus contact tracking application to maintain the COVID-19 exposure notification monopoly.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire on Tuesday, focuses on a smartphone application called “Coronavirus Reporter”, which was denied entry to the App Store in March 2020.
The Coronavirus Reporter, says the process, was developed by a team of health and computer science experts in February 2020 to “capture and obtain critical biostatistical and epidemiological data as it happened.”
The team behind the app completed its development on March 3, the complaint continues. It was at this time that Apple banned coronavirus-related applications that were not from medical, government or other recognized institutions on the App Store.
The tech giant, in an ad posted on its developer website in mid-March last year, noted its commitment to making the App Store a “safe and reliable place”, saying it was critically evaluating coronavirus-related apps ” to ensure that the data sources are reliable and that the developers presenting these applications are from recognized entities, such as government organizations, health-focused NGOs, companies deeply accredited in health matters and medical or educational institutions. “He also recognized the urgent nature of publishing such applications and made adjustments to streamline the review process.
After Apple rejected Coronavirus Reporter, the app’s developers appealed. The title was eventually rejected about 20 days later because it was not supported by a recognized healthcare company and its “user-generated data has not been evaluated for accuracy by a reliable source”.
The complaint says that Apple allowed another app that worked similarly on the App Store about a month later. He also has problems with the Apple and Google Exposure Notification framework, which he says is “largely a failure”.
In addition to ensuring accurate data from legitimate sources, Apple’s cross-platform exposure notification protocol, developed in partnership with Google, is based on a framework that prioritizes privacy. The system denies the storage of personal data on central servers and relies on anonymous Bluetooth beacons on users’ devices until participants decide to share the information with third parties. If and when a user is diagnosed with COVID-19, they can choose to upload a 14-day list of recent contacts (again, anonymized) to a distribution server, which matches beacon IDs and sends notifications alerting individuals that they came into close contact with a carrier of the virus. Doctors can also examine the data, if such access is granted.
Third party applications that integrate with the Exposure Notification API must adhere to Apple rules.
The lawsuit claims that Apple blocked Coronavirus Reporter in an effort to maintain a monopoly on contact-tracking applications. In addition, it says that Apple’s ability to “arbitrarily determine which applications will and will not be published has substantial anti-competitive effects”.
The lawsuit claims that these actions constitute violations of the anti-monopoly Sherman Act. Intends a subpoena on alleged anti-competitive behavior; damages in excess of $ 75,000; and a permanent injunction restricting Apple’s ability to “[restrict] reasonable applications. ”