Apple’s iPhone security may be damaged by the European Union as it looks to force Apple to open iPhone’s currently secure NFC to third-parties.
Javier Espinoza for Financial Times:
The tech giant will be accused of breaking EU law in the way it operates Apple Pay, a payments system that operates on hundreds of millions of iPhone devices, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The $2.5tn company would receive heavy fines worth up to 10 per cent of global turnover if the charges are upheld.
Investigators, led by the bloc’s powerful competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, will accuse Apple of unfairly blocking groups such as PayPal and leading banks from accessing its mobile wallet system.
The charges expected to be announced next week relate to the NFC — or “near field communication” — technology that allows a user to pay by tapping their iPhone on a payments terminal. That personal device is linked to debit or credit cards through a mobile wallet.
Under the current system, Apple must approve third parties to process payments through its mobile system, saying it would breach the security and privacy of its users.
The timing of the EU’s announcement of charges could still slip, people close to the investigation warned, but added that the commission was determined to act soon.
MacDailyNews Take: Beware the unintended consequences of overreach by overzealous quasi-governments. If the EU files these charges, opening NFC to third parties, iPhone will likely become less secure.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Shop The Apple Store at Amazon.