Congress urges Apple and Google to police foreign apps, app makers

Posted:
in General Discussion edited July 2020
A congressional committee on Tuesday sent letters to Apple and Google urging both companies to closely monitor the collection and possible exploitation of user data by third-party apps affiliated with foreign entities.




In letters addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform expressed concern over the security implications of storing user data on foreign soil. Foreign app makers, those with connections to foreign bodies and domestic companies that store information on offshore servers are named as potential threats to U.S. national security.

Stephen F. Lynch, Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, noted steps taken by other countries to combat the specter of nefarious data operations include legislation that requires companies to store data on local servers and, in some cases, outright bans on foreign apps. Congress seeks similar protections, but is reluctant to adopt targeted policies that come at the cost of "inhibiting innovation, enabling censorship, and restricting the movement of ideas across a free and open internet."

Instead, Lynch places the onus on Apple and Google, whose operating systems run on nearly all smartphones in the U.S.

Specifically, the government asks the tech giants to exercise policing power through their respective app stores, a task that would entail monitoring where developers store user data. That information would be reported and passed on to customers via App Store listings.

"As an industry leader, Apple can and must do more to ensure that smartphone applications made available to U.S. citizens on the AppStore [sic] protect stored data from unlawful foreign exploitation, and do not compromise U.S. national security," Lynch writes. "At a minimum, Apple should take steps to ensure that users are aware of the potential privacy and national security risks of sharing sensitive information with applications that store data in countries adversarial to the United States, or whose developers are subsidiaries of overseas companies."

Lynch also asks Apple and Google to commit to app store policy that would require developers to divulge whether they are a corporate subsidiary of a foreign entity. This information, too, would be available to consumers under the plan. The chairman offered a similar suggestion in January, to which both Apple and Google responded that no statutory or regulatory limitations would prevent such action.

In his letter to Apple on Tuesday, Lynch asks if the company has removed an app from the App Store for "suspicious or nefarious exploitation of user data by foreign governments." He further solicits suggestions on how to best protect against unwanted data collection by foreign entities.

Engadget reported on the letters earlier today.

The call to action comes amid revived concerns that third-party apps, especially those from China, Russia and the Middle East, are siphoning off potentially sensitive information from U.S. app users.

Apple currently employs a wide array of privacy features across its operating systems. A new tool in the upcoming iOS 14, for example, notifies users when a third-party app accesses the system clipboard. Though still in beta form, media coverage of the feature and its preliminary results prompted corrective action from apps like TikTok and LinkedIn.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,057member
    But just not through the App Store because that's only fair right?
    hammeroftruthwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 18
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,300member
    Yea right. Before Apple and Google self-police let's have Congress and the White House self police. Apple and Google are at least trying while Congress is doing everything it can to not police itself.
    gilly33Rayz2016hammeroftruthwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 18
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,722member
    Will the US be allowed to collect data from foreigners?
    rotateleftbytehammeroftruthwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 18
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    Why stop at foreign abuse? Why not domestic abuse, or is that OK? Is that “just business”?
    gilly33uraharaDogpersonhammeroftruthwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 18
    Apple needs to do a better job of this, no other way around it.

    I think that the sheer volume of foreign apps has exceeded their traditionally strong review capabilities.
    Dogpersonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 18

    Will the US be allowed to collect data from foreigners?
    That is up to the 'foreigners' to address. We only have control over the law that is relevant within our legal boundaries.
  • Reply 7 of 18

    mcdave said:
    Why stop at foreign abuse? Why not domestic abuse, or is that OK? Is that “just business”?
    It is not OK, but if it's a domestic app developer, you will at least have US legal (or, as in this case, political) recourse if you feel you've been wronged. It is far more difficult (more time-consuming, more expensive) to bring a lawsuit against a non-US company. And you will probably have to bring the lawsuit within the geographic boundaries of the foreign country.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 18
    jony0jony0 Posts: 380member
    Talk about the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing !
    This security committee wants Apple & Google to clamp down on policing while the ongoing antitrust committee wants to lessen their control. I'll bet that the latter won't accept Apple's reasoning that they need control for security and the former won't accept any refusal of policing.
    Strange bedfellows indeed.
    edited July 2020 gilly33Rayz2016Detnatoruraharamuthuk_vanalingamDogpersonwonkothesanejschweickertapplguywatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 18
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Dear Apple,

    Do our job.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 18
    CiprolCiprol Posts: 53member

    That is up to the 'foreigners' to address. We only have control over the law that is relevant within our legal boundaries.
    Not true! US has been abusing extra-territorial laws on foreign nations, entities and individuals for decades and it's getting ridiculous.
  • Reply 11 of 18
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Beats said:
    Dear Apple,

    Do our job.
    Yeah, it's solely Congresses job to make sure society functions, no else has any responsibility whatsoever.  That's a really healthy outlook.
  • Reply 12 of 18
    hexclockhexclock Posts: 1,307member
    Apple seems to be policing Hong Kong apps just fine. 
    Dogperson
  • Reply 13 of 18
    Ciprol said:

    That is up to the 'foreigners' to address. We only have control over the law that is relevant within our legal boundaries.
    Not true! US has been abusing extra-territorial laws on foreign nations, entities and individuals for decades and it's getting ridiculous.
    Short of executing war or on matters of national security, rarely. Moreover, it is entirely up to foreign countries to retaliate in such instances if they feel there's been extra-territorial reach, including by bringing a case against the US government in US courts (as many countries have repeatedly done).
  • Reply 14 of 18
    hammeroftruthhammeroftruth Posts: 1,351member
    crowley said:
    Beats said:
    Dear Apple,

    Do our job.
    Yeah, it's solely Congresses job to make sure society functions, no else has any responsibility whatsoever.  That's a really healthy outlook.
    I think the point that Beats is making is the same point that was referred to earlier. Congress is very lazy when it comes to drafting policies to protect American citizen’s right to privacy. Their message reads it’s good to have maximum security measures taken when dealing with a foreign app wanting to harvest your personal information, but it’s bad when those security measures create a roadblock for the government to be able to access the same information in order to determine if you have committed a crime. 

    They subpoenaed the heads of the tech companies, when they should have done that with the heads of software programming to first find out how does Apple and Google vet their apps and confirm that they do not illegally harvest your information. I know Google is it’s own worst enemy after it’s been found to harvest users data on the iPhone after it told Apple it does not. 

    The message from Congress should be to educate consumers not to just fill out digital forms with their personal information, just to be able to use an app they downloaded.  If Congress showed American consumers how your data gets homogenized into a commodity to buy and sell, Facebook would be the first to die, but they’re not interested in that since those harvesters contribute to their campaigns.  

    Ever since the leaders we have elected have gone from civil bipartisan debates to reality show antics, we can’t expect much from them anymore. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 18
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,713member
    Will the US be allowed to collect data from foreigners?
    Yes of course. You did read the article and they clearly stated “unlawful foreign exploitation.” Things like “unlawful domestic exploitation” and “unlawful exploitation of foreigners” is still fair game. 

    I know this sounds very cynical but I’m sort of half joking. As they say, many a truth is said in jest. As adults we must recognize that the real world is a dangerous place. If it were not for a number of somewhat unsavory activities that take place every single day on both sides of any “difference in opinion about what constitutes world order” we’d all be living under much more stressful conditions than we are living today. Sometimes it’s better to simply accept that sausage “just gets made” and not think too much about how it actually happens. 


    edited July 2020 watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 18
    Will the US be allowed to collect data from foreigners?
    They already have been for years with the Patriot  Act. The US government can access foreign data on US based servers without a warrant and without notifying the owner. That’s why our province (BC) couldn’t use Azure until Microsoft set up a data centre in Canada. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 18
    Isn’t App Store being investigated for Monopolistic practices? Kind of funny that the other governments other hand would request this. Mind you, I’m for it and I’m perfectly happy with Apple’s App Store practices. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 18
    EsquireCatsEsquireCats Posts: 1,268member
    Funny when apple remove apps that are blatantly violating user privacy and security they’re labelled as authoritarian and monopolists. 
    watto_cobra
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