Apple is under scrutiny for how the App Store’s review process handles applications for cryptocurrency trading and wallet apps. In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook today, the chairman of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs asked what “measures your company is taking to prevent fraud in your app store.”
Cryptocurrency Fraud in the App Store
As The Verge first noted, Senator Sherrod Brown’s letter comes after the FBI and other agencies issued warnings about the spread of cryptocurrency scams. According to Brown, Apple plays a role in these scams by offering a range of mobile apps for trading cryptocurrencies.
In recent years, the popularity of cryptocurrency platforms and exchanges has skyrocketed, with millions of investors downloading mobile apps to trade and invest in digital assets. Millions of Americans use mobile apps to invest in unregulated digital assets, including cryptocurrencies. Crypto mobile apps are available to the public through app stores, including the Apple App Store. While crypto apps offered simple and convenient ways for investors to trade cryptocurrencies, there have been reports of fake crypto apps that have scammed hundreds of investors.
Thus, Brown asks Cook to explain in detail what measures Apple takes when considering applications in the App Store for crypto applications. The Democratic senator explained that “it is critical that app stores have proper security measures in place to prevent mobile app fraud.”
Brown wants answers to the following questions and sent a similar set of questions to Google CEO Sundar Pichai:
Describe the review process your company goes through before approving crypto applications to run on your app store. Please provide the following information in your response: The factors or criteria your company uses to determine whether to grant approval to an application, including the steps your company takes to ensure that the application requesting approval is a trusted and secure application. Describe the steps your app store takes to prevent cryptocurrency apps running on your app store from circumventing app store policies from becoming phishing apps. In your response, please describe in detail how often your app store monitors fraud protection apps and the steps you take to remove apps that are found to be fraudulent. Describe any systems and processes your company has in place for people to report rogue apps. Describe any actions your app store has taken to alert people to actual or potential fraudulent activity related to cryptocurrency investment apps. Since January 2020, has your app store coordinated or shared any activity or activity with other app stores related to the suspension or removal of fraudulent cryptocurrency apps? If so, please explain.
Brown is asking Apple and Google to answer these questions by August 10, 2022.
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