Developers Now Required To Share Phone Number and Address On EU App Store (macrumors.com) 25
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MacRumors: Apple today reminded developers that the EU trader requirement in the European Union is now being enforced. Developers who distribute apps in the EU will now need to share information that includes address, phone number, and email address on the EU App Store. Submitting updates for apps on the App Store in the European Union now requires trader information that's added via App Store Connect, with those details shared on each developer's App Store page. App updates can no longer be submitted without trader information, and starting on February 17, 2025, apps that do not have a trader status set will be removed from the App Store in the EU until trader status is provided and verified.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) in the European Union requires Apple to verify and display trader contact information for all "traders" who are distributing apps on the App Store in the European Union. Developers who make money from the App Store through either an upfront purchase price or through in-app purchases are considered traders, regardless of size. Contact information for each developer that is considered a trader will be publicly available, and there will undoubtedly be some developers that are unhappy with the requirement. Independent developers and small companies may not have dedicated business addresses and phone numbers to provide, and will likely be reluctant to provide their personal contact information. You can learn more about the requirements on Apple's website.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) in the European Union requires Apple to verify and display trader contact information for all "traders" who are distributing apps on the App Store in the European Union. Developers who make money from the App Store through either an upfront purchase price or through in-app purchases are considered traders, regardless of size. Contact information for each developer that is considered a trader will be publicly available, and there will undoubtedly be some developers that are unhappy with the requirement. Independent developers and small companies may not have dedicated business addresses and phone numbers to provide, and will likely be reluctant to provide their personal contact information. You can learn more about the requirements on Apple's website.
Bureaucracy gone wild (Score:1, Troll)
DSA was a brainchild of everyone's favorite totalitarian grandma Thierry Breton. Who got de facto kicked out of the Commission for this sort of insanity when it recently got refreshed. He was so bad at his job that von der Leyen herself had to tell him off publicly when he went over the Commission's bureaucracy to threaten Musk on X with illegal consequences. Too much of a mask off even for the current Commission, that's proven more than willing to go full totalitarian and who's penalty decisions keep getti
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But the complain should address relevant parts of the DSA. These are normal requirements for national jurisdictions in the EU. Registering a business is compulsory before any business occurs; providing an address for the business is compulsory upon registration; the formal address and company registration number is already available in databases on the internet. (Whether you registered under your home address is up to you.) Regarding the phone, you definitely should use a separate number for any business ac
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This is a half truth and half lie. While if you want to conduct things as a business most EU nations require entry into national registry (here it's well known as a scam directory, as the moment you register, scammers will basically spam you with various "offers"). But a lot of developers do not in fact produce apps as a business, but as a private person. Usually people make something that helps themselves, and then publish it to help others. And it does.
For example the best public transit planner software
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It's always hilarious how people like to tell us that they're barely literate when they try to argue legal minutiae. Straight from the OP:
>Developers who distribute apps in the EU will now need to share information that includes address, phone number, and email address on the EU App Store. Submitting updates for apps on the App Store in the European Union now requires trader information that's added via App Store Connect, with those details shared on each developer's App Store page. App updates can no lo
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From the summary:
> Developers who make money from the App Store through either an upfront purchase price or through in-app purchases are considered traders, regardless of size
Developers who do not make any revenue, are not considered traders.
Or from Apple's announcement itself: "How to know if you are a trader".
> For example, if you're a hobbyist and you developed your app with no intention of commercializing it, you may not be considered a trader.
From the Apple page, requiring the info:
> If you
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You have chosen a poor example since a person who earns no money from an app will not have to supply name and telephone number as they are not a "trader".
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I know people don't read beyond the headline, but you really should. It will save a lot of embarrassment. From the OP:
>Developers who distribute apps in the EU will now need to share information that includes address, phone number, and email address on the EU App Store. Submitting updates for apps on the App Store in the European Union now requires trader information that's added via App Store Connect, with those details shared on each developer's App Store page. App updates can no longer be submitted wi
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Apples page explictly state that simply posting to the EU store does not make one a trader. "For example, if you're a hobbyist and you developed your app with no intention of commercializing it, you may not be considered a trader.". Yes. People can read the article, and not a summary that omits all the details of what is, and is not a trader with respect to the EU law, and to Apple's enforcement of the law as written. Apple states that it cannot determine if any developer is a trader under the law. A
This was not already a requirement? (Score:4, Informative)
Makes sense (Score:3)
That way malicious and grossly negligent developers can actually be identified.
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Easy to get around. (Score:2)
Burner app phone number(s), online po boxes, and plenty of places to stand up and abandon such an email address. Effectively useless law.
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Nope, not true (Score:2)
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If they don't have business contact details, how are they in business?
Presumably you don't need to provide this information if your app is free and have no in-app purchasing.
Quite true. (Score:2)
The EU Directive requires all earning revenue on a digital service, via the Digital Services Act.
The developer must " notify the name, postal address, email address and telephone number of their legal representative to the Digital Services Coordinator in the Member State where that legal representative resides or is established."
Failure to provide full information is subject to fines, for failing to provide adequate direct contact to reach the developer.
Failure to provide verified name, address, and phone n
Dom names / whois (Score:3)
Wasn't it the EU that basically forced whois records to hide the address and phone number of the registrant, even when a domain is owned by a business?
I find it extremely shady when a company uses a domain privacy service, a legitimate business should be contactable and locatable, so it makes sense for this information to be available before you acquire any monetized app. They should require that business domains display such information too, and only allow hiding that information for personally owned domains.
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