The US Department of Justice (DoJ), along with 16 other state and district attorneys general, on Thursday accused Apple of unlawfully maintaining a monopoly on smartphones, thereby undermining, among other things, the security and privacy of users when they send messages to non-iPhone users.
“Apple wraps itself in a veil of privacy, security, and consumer preferences to justify its anticompetitive conduct,” the landmark antitrust lawsuit reads. “Apple uses privacy and security justifications as an elastic shield that can stretch or contract to serve Apple’s financial and business interests.”
“Apple selectively compromises privacy and security interests when it is in Apple’s financial interest, for example by degrading the security of text messages, giving governments and some companies the ability to access more private and secure versions of apps store or accepting billions of dollars. every year for choosing Google as the default search engine when more private options are available.”
The widespread complaint also stated that iPhone users who send messages to a non-iPhone user via the Messages app are automatically set to the less secure SMS format (as opposed to iMessage) which does not support encryption and offers limited functionality. On the other hand, iMessage is end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) and is even quantum resistant.
It’s worth noting at this stage that iMessage is only available on iPhone and other Apple devices. Apple has repeatedly said it has no plans to make iMessage interoperable with Android, while also saying that doing so would “hurt us more than help us.”
Additionally, the 88-page lawsuit called out the iPhone maker for blocking third-party attempts to bring a secure cross-platform messaging experience between the iOS and Android platforms.
In December 2023, Beeper managed to reverse engineer the iMessage protocol and bring the service to Android via a dedicated client called Beeper Mini. Apple, however, halted these efforts, claiming that Beeper “presented significant security and privacy risks for users, including the risk of metadata exposure and triggering unwanted messages, spam, and phishing attacks.”
These limitations have a powerful network effect, driving consumers to continue purchasing iPhones and be less likely to upgrade to a competing device, the DoJ said, adding, “by rejecting solutions that would enable cross-platform encryption, Apple continues to make more vulnerable iPhone users” less safe than they might otherwise be.”
The development comes as Apple faces greater scrutiny than ever for opening up its tightly controlled software ecosystem – the so-called “walled garden” – that regulators say locks out customers and developers. Other major tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta have all faced similar lawsuits in recent years.
Apple, in a surprise move late last year, announced that it plans to add support for Communication Services (RCS) – an updated version of the SMS standard with modern instant messaging capabilities – to its Messages app. It also said it will work with GSMA members to integrate encryption.
In response to the lawsuit, Cupertino said it will “vigorously defend itself” and that the lawsuit “threatens who we are and the principles that distinguish Apple products in highly competitive markets.” He also said that the DoJ winning the case would “set a dangerous precedent, empowering the government to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”