ProtonMail Goes Against Apple by Joining the “Coalition for App Fairness”
Last updated June 28, 2021
- ProtonMail joins “Coalition for App Fairness” and calls everyone to action against “Big Tech.”
- The internet firm has been warning about the dangers of monopolistic practices in tech since its inception.
- The coalition already has a diverse set of big players like Epic Games, Spotify, Tile, and Basecamp.
ProtonMail is the latest company to join the ranks against Apple’s monopolistic practices, something that the encrypted communications firm has bashed in the recent past. As they say, Apple’s absurdly excessive fees are forcing them to set the prices for ProtonVPN in the App Store much higher than what they would like - and even censor their app description there to keep it available on users who are based in authoritarian countries.
So, ProtonMail is now joining the “Coalition for App Fairness” (CAF), which is a group that already counts 13 app developers. Not surprisingly, the other members are Epic Games, Blix, Spotify, Tile, Deezer, Basecamp, Blockchain.com, EPC (European Publishers Council), PrePear, and Sky Demon.
The vision of the coalition can be summed up in the following ten points:
- There should be no app store exclusivities
- There should be no blocks or discriminations
- Everyone should have the same level of access to platform-specific developer resources
- App store access should be maintained as long as standards are met
- The data of a developer should be used for unfair competition against them
- Developers should have the right to communicate with their userbase directly
- App store owners shouldn’t set their own apps as default or promote them against the solutions of others
- Paying unreasonable and unfair fees should not be a condition to access app stores
- Third-party app stores should be allowed in the context of fair competition
- There should be total transparency on app store rules and policies and consistent application against everyone
All of the above cut through Apple’s business model, and we have seen them getting developed again and again in requests for investigation directed to the European Commission. What changes with the coalition’s formulation is that the message gets more visibility since working together is far more powerful than shouting against Apple by yourself. CAF may count 13 members now, but soon, it could have hundreds.
ProtonMail feels that business models like the one developed by Apple and Google are taking away people’s freedom to use the internet privately, securely, and inexpensively. For this, Proton calls people to join the fight against “Big Tech” and break free from walled gardens and surveillance.
If you agree, you can show your support by sharing posts like this one on social media, supporting the software that dares to move away from official stores, and taking your communications and data on truly private platforms like ProtonMail.
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