EU should react: Apple registration annoys German competition

"Sign in with Apple" starts in the summer. Although the service protects privacy far better than the alternatives from Facebook and Google, 1 & 1 boss Jan Oetjen is upset. He calls for support for the European netID, of which he is Chairman of the Foundation Council.

The boss of 1 & 1 and the German mail providers Web.de and GMX, Jan Oetjen, complains that Apple is now also offering a so-called single sign-on (SSO), which users can use to use their Apple ID for other services or Can register websites. The company's approach to disseminating the new service is "the perfect example of how we as Europe cannot manage to get these companies under control," said Oetjen of the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (FAZ).

"Sign in with Apple" should start on July 1st. Apple is thus pushing into a field that has so far been firmly in the hands of Google and Facebook. Apple apparently wants to enforce its offer with massive pressure on the app developers. About a year ago, the company introduced new regulations for the app store that app providers would have to meet, Oetjen told the FAZ: "And then suddenly it said: All apps that have a single sign-on installed , will soon have to install the Apple ID as well. " Otherwise the apps would be banned from the app store. "There they are rigorous."

Oetjen would like to get involved

Oetjen told the AFP news agency why this business is so important: "It is about the ID that users use to browse the web, the personal ID. This is the customer interface to which Google, Facebook and now Apple also use their payment services knot. "

The manager, who is also the chairman of the board of trustees of the European netID Foundation, called for European login standards as an alternative to login with Google, Facebook and Apple and campaigned for support from business and politics. "We have to quickly agree on open standards and build competitors in Europe," said Oetjen AFP. With netID, there is already such a standard that is suitable as a European model.

Politicians are now also asked to support such a standard, possibly as an EU regulation, with the same consistency and bring it to the market as Apple. Otherwise there is a risk that the European Internet economy will be crushed between the United States and China.

Apple SSO generally more secure

In principle, consumer and data protection activists think that Apple offers an alternative to the SSOs from Google and Facebook. Because those who use it protect their privacy, since "Sign in with Apple" only requires a unique, randomly generated email address. Even in cases where developers asked for a name and email address, users would have the option to keep their email address private and use a random, one-time email address instead, Apple describes his new service. And the company guarantees not to create a profile for customers or their activities.

The situation is different with Google and Facebook. The consumer advice center warns that "all information about everything you do on other sites comes together with the provider of the user account. The user account may then receive comprehensive data about your preferences, habits and your shopping behavior and can use this information for a comprehensive profiling."

Facebook is particularly bad at it. In April 2018, researchers from Princeton University uncovered that a Facebook login, in addition to the actual website operator, also allows third-party providers to access the public information on his Facebook profile without the user's knowledge.

But even with Google login, you cannot be sure that only Google will receive valuable information about user behavior through the registration. The company points out on its support page that at least name, email address and profile picture can be accessed by third parties. And Google warns that regardless of this, a third party can access data from Google services.

Users have to be careful

The company stays out of this and leaves it up to the user to decide if that's okay. If something goes wrong, Google also assumes no liability. The consumer advice center strongly advises you to read exactly what authorizations a third party requires. This includes the right to like or post things unnoticed on behalf of the user.

However, many users probably put their checkmarks often without reading the small print. There are overviews in Facebook and Google where you can check which applications are linked to your account and which permissions you have. If you don't like what you see there, it is also possible to undo the link there. It can be doubted whether the third-party providers delete data that has already been collected and saved.

According to the consumer advice center, there is also a great danger in single sign-on that unauthorized access data falls into the hands – be it through sloppiness, phishing or hacking attacks. In the worst case, this is the password to the Google or Facebook account. You should therefore use two-factor authentication, which requires additional actions in addition to entering the password to log on. By the way, when "Signing in with Apple", two-factor authentication is mandatory.