Contributed by: kellyseal on Monday, June 27 2022 @ 11:42 am
Last modified on Monday, June 27 2022 @ 12:00 pm
Apple has come to an agreement with Dutch regulators over an ongoing dispute over dating apps being able to use third party payment systems.
After weeks of being fined for non-compliance, the tech giant has finally reached an accord with the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). According to Tech Crunch, the details are still vague, but the agreement basically follows the original proposal Apple submitted with a few significant changes, such as not requiring dating apps to create a separate binary app for third party payment systems.
Apple confirmed that they might do one of the following as it pertains to the agreement, which doesn’t make clear what developers can expect going forward. The tech giant said that dating apps might: continue to use Apple’s in-app purchase system; use a third-party payment system in the app that people can choose; include an in-app link directing users to the developer’s website to complete a purchase; or lastly, use a third-party payment system within the app and include a link directing people to the developer’s website to complete a purchase, according to Tech Crunch[*1] .
The ACM didn’t shed much light on the details in its statement either.
“Apple now complies with the rules,” the agency said. “That is why ACM no longer needs to impose a new order subject to periodic penalty payments. Over the past few months, ACM had collected information from dating-app providers and independent experts before its assessment that Apple complied with the order.”
Apple also noted that there will be a 3 percent “commission discount” for in-app purchases that qualify.
Martijn Snoep, chairman of the ACM’s board, said in a statement: “We want everyone to be able to reap the benefits of the digital economy. In the digital economy, powerful companies have a special responsibility to keep the market fair and open. Apple avoided that responsibility, and abused its dominant position vis-à-vis dating-app providers. We are glad that Apple has finally brought its conditions in line with European and Dutch competition rules. That offers app providers more opportunities to compete. And consumers will ultimately reap the benefits, too.”
Apple still plans to appeal the ruling, citing that user safety and privacy is compromised if third-party payment systems for apps are allowed on its platform, though it is complying for now with the regulators.
The tech giant said in its statement: “We don’t believe some of these changes are in the best interests of our users’ privacy or data security. Because Apple is committed to constructive engagement with regulators, we’re making the additional changes at the ACM’s request.”