Tracking-app maker Tile has filed an antitrust complaint with European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. Companies like Tile, Sonos and Popsockets have been speaking out against Apple and other big tech companies. They claim those larger corporations are deliberately hurting the competition, and earlier this year they testified before the House Antitrust Subcommittee. Now, Tile is taking its beef with Apple to Europe. Tile sent a letter to the European competition commissioner arguing that Apple is making it more difficult for users to operate its product compared to Apple’s rival app, Financial Times reports.
In the letter, Tile notes that the “always allow” permission for its app is automatically set to “off” in iOS 13.5, but the “always allow” permission for Apple’s similar app, FindMy, defaults to “on.” Tile claims that — and frequent data access reminds — hurt customer experience on its app, but not on Apple’s. Tile also claims it’s not receiving “equal placement” in the App Store and that Apple dropped Tile products from its retail stores, which could have something to do with Apple’s plans to launch a similar hardware tracker.
“We strenuously deny the allegations of uncompetitive behaviour that Tile is waging against us,” Apple said in a statement shared by Financial Times. “Consistent with the critical path we’ve been on for over a decade, last year we introduced further privacy protections that safeguard user location data. Tile doesn’t like those decisions so instead of arguing the issue on its merits, they’ve instead decided to launch meritless attacks.”
The move also coincides with the recent removal of Tile products from Apple’s retail stores.
When reached for comment, an Apple spokesperson said, “We strenuously deny the allegations of uncompetitive behaviour that Tile is waging against us. Consistent with the critical path we’ve been on for over a decade, last year we introduced further privacy protections that safeguard user location data. Tile doesn’t like those decisions, so instead of arguing the issue on its merits, they’ve instead decided to launch meritless attacks.”
The European Commission acknowledged that it had received the letter, but could not comment any further as it is considered an open investigation
