Apple was hit with a lawsuit alleging that it rejected a coronavirus contact tracking application to maintain a monopoly on notifying COVID-19 exposure.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the district of New Hampshire, focuses on a smartphone app called “Coronavirus Reporter” that was denied entry into the App Store in March 2020.
Coronavirus Reporter, the lawsuit claims, was developed by a team of health and IT experts in February 2020 to “capture and obtain critical biostatistical and epidemiological data as it happened.”
The team behind the application completed its development on March 3, the complaint continues. That’s about the time when Apple banned coronavirus-related apps that don’t come from medical, government, or other recognized App Store institutions.
The tech giant, in an ad posted on its developer website in mid-March last year, mentioned its commitment to making the App Store a “safe and reliable place,” saying it critically evaluates apps. related to coronavirus to ensure that data sources are reliable and that developers presenting these applications come from recognized entities such as government organizations, health-focused NGOs, deeply accredited health care companies, and medical institutions. or educational. “It also acknowledged the time-sensitive nature of the publication of these applications and made adjustments to speed up the review process.
After Apple rejected Coronavirus Reporter, the app’s developers appealed. The title was eventually rejected 20 days later because it was not backed by a reputable medical company and “user-generated data was not verified for accuracy by a reputable source.”
The complaint says that Apple allowed another application that worked similarly on the App Store about a month later. It also has issues with Apple and Google’s exposure reporting framework, which it says is “largely a failure.”
Beyond providing accurate data from legitimate sources, Apple’s cross-platform exposure platform, developed in partnership with Google, is based on a privacy framework. The system denies the storage of personal data on central servers and relies on anonymous Bluetooth beacons on users’ devices until participants choose to share the information with a third party. If and when a user is diagnosed with COVID-19, they can choose to upload a 14-day list of recent (again, anonymized) contacts to a distribution server, which matches the beacon IDs and sends notifications that It alerts those individuals that they have come into close contact with a carrier of the virus. Physicians may also examine the data if such access is granted.
Third-party applications that integrate with the Exposure Notification API must comply with Apple’s rules.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple blocked Coronavirus Reporter in an effort to maintain a monopoly on contact tracking applications. In addition, it claims that Apple’s ability to “arbitrarily determine which applications will or will not be published has substantial anti-competitive effects.”
The lawsuit alleges that Sherman’s antitrust violations of the law. A provision is sought on the alleged anti-competitive behavior; damages in excess of $ 75,000; and a standing ordinance limiting Apple’s ability to “[restrict] reasonable applications. ”