Alliance Digitale, en collaboration avec cinq associations professionnelles françaises des médias et de la publicité (APIG, le Geste, le SRI, l’Udecam, et l’Union des marques), ont adressé une nouvelle lettre ouverte à Tim Cook, CEO d’Apple, demandant la suspension de la fonctionnalité “Distraction Control” récemment déployée sur Safari avec iOS 18.
Cette fonctionnalité permet aux utilisateurs de masquer en deux clics tout type de contenu en ligne, y compris des publicités et des fenêtres de consentement. Nous craignons que cela ne menace gravement l’équilibre économique des médias et des créateurs de contenus, facilite la manipulation de l’information, et mette en péril la conformité des acteurs avec les réglementations européennes sur la protection des données.
Ils demandent à Apple de suspendre le déploiement de “Distraction Control” et d’apporter les éclaircissements nécessaires sur son fonctionnement technique. En l’absence de réponse satisfaisante, ils se réservent le droit d’envisager des actions juridiques :
From:
Nicolas Rieul – President of Alliance Digitale
Pierre Louette – President of APIG
Bertrand Gié – President of Geste
Corinne Mrejen – President of SRI
Magali Florens – CEO of UDECAM
Jean-Luc Chetrit – CEO of Union des marques
To: Tim Cook
CEO, Apple Inc.
One Apple Park Way
Cupertino, CA 95014
Paris, October 17, 2024
Open letter: French Publishing, Marketing and Media professionals request suspension of Apple’s “Distraction Control” rollout on iOS18 and the provision of the full set of technical documentation
Dear Mr. Cook,
In May of this year, we reached out to express our concerns over reports of a potential “Web Eraser” feature within Safari. Although our letter went unanswered, the absence of any public comment or clarification from Apple gave us reason to believe that the company had abandoned the concept.
However, in early August 2024, we became aware of a new feature available in beta testing on Safari, known as “Distraction Control,” which appears to have the capability of hiding any element of a webpage.
This development has revived the same concerns that prompted our initial letter, sent on behalf of the 800 companies we represent collectively across the Advertisers, Media Agencies, Publishers, Media, AdTech, and Mobile Marketing sectors.
Testing of both the beta and the publicly released iOS 18 versions has heightened the anxiety within our various industries. These tests have confirmed that the feature can at least:
– Conceal any content (text, audio, video) on all webpages including editorialized content of media outlets online, copyrighted material and protected databases hence dramatically
facilitating manipulation of information on the Internet and the loyalty of transactions without adequate information to the consumer in compliance with applicable laws in the European Union;
– Mask websites’ Consent Management Platform (CMPs) and Consent Wall jeopardizing compliance with European data protection regulation and weakening publishers business models;
– Hide all forms of online advertising -whether video, native, display- and sometimes without explicit user action (i.e., automatically on a same website after previous similar choices), jeopardizing actual and reliable measurement of performance, posing an existential threat to online advertising model, which underpins a significant portion of the Internet’s economy.
Our findings come at a time when Apple has provided the market with virtually almost no information about “Distraction Control”, let alone any discussion or prior notice. This is all the more worrisome given that other rumors suggest that “Distraction Control” functions could be in the near future activated directly in the Safari browser settings.
Given the significant lack of information and transparency surrounding this matter, the fact that Safari has been designated as a Core Platform Service (CPS) under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and the profound potential consequences of these developments, the associations and members we represent are actively considering all available legal recourses. These include but are not limited to, avenues related to data protection, Freedom of the Press, intellectual property rights, copyright, trademark law, and competition regulations.
Given these concerns, we urge that Apple halt the deployment of this feature pending further review. Furthermore, we request access to the complete technical documentation detailing the Distraction Control functionalities, along with any planned updates, to ensure that the feature complies with European law and respects the rights of all stakeholders, including European consumers.
