Apple: Senate bills risk unleashing ‘malware, ransomware and scams’

From Apple’s letter to the leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee, posted Tuesday:

This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to consider S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, and it may soon consider S. 2710, the Open App Markets Act. Apple has appreciated the opportunity to engage with the Committee on these bills, but we remain concerned that they will hurt competition and discourage innovation…

The most glaring problem with these bills is the risk they pose to the privacy and security of Americans’ personal devices. Today, our smart phones are not just phones; they store some of our most sensitive information about our personal and professional lives. We keep them with us wherever we go, and we use them to call and text with loved ones, take and store photos of our children, give us directions when we’re lost, count our steps, send money to friends, and so much more.

While both bills ostensibly permit privacy and security protections, they erect very steep obstacles for such safeguards. Specifically, to introduce new and enhanced privacy or security protections under the bills, Apple would have to prove the protections were “necessary,” “narrowly tailored,” and that no less restrictive protections were available. This is a nearly insurmountable test, especially when applied after-the-fact as an affirmative defense. And it essentially could lead to a lowest common denominator problem in which consumers will no longer have the choice to purchase a smart mobile device that provides them with the highest-level of security and privacy protection…

These bills will reward those who have been irresponsible with users’ data and empower bad actors who would target consumers with malware, ransomware, and scams.

My take: I doubt Dick Durbin, Chuck Grassley, Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee are losing much sleep over the lowest common denominator problem.