Apple shapeshifts to use privacy creds for profit - DoJ

Antitrust enforcers allege Apple wraps itself "in a cloak of privacy, security, and consumer preferences to justify its anticompetitive conduct..."

With Google now a notch on their belt, America’s antitrust regulators are turning their gaze on the world’s most valuable company, Apple.

They’ll soon name a court date to sue the iPhone giant alleging it sells customers’ privacy for profit, hikes prices, suffocates competition and holds back innovation.

If it sounds similar to the Google case that’s because it is.

It’s being brought by the same Department of Justice division run by Jonathan Kanter, who systematically alleges anticompetitive behaviour over a 23,869-word complaint.

TL;DR

The DoJ alleges Apple uses a playbook to anticompetitively hike prices and constantly changes policies to protect its dominance.

Kanter accuses it of “shapeshifting” rules “to extract higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience, and throttle competitive alternatives”.

“It has deployed this playbook across many technologies, products, and services, including super apps, text messaging, smartwatches, and digital wallets,” he…