In mid-September 2024, Apple will release the next generation of iPhone software, iOS 18, for hundreds of millions of users. Apple says changes in iOS 18 will put “privacy at the core,” which advocates and policymakers generally consider good for consumers. However, in this instance, how Apple implements giving consumers more control over their data may have anti-competitive and cybersecurity impacts that actually harm consumers. 

Historically, iOS has offered consumers a simple, binary choice when new third-party apps are downloaded: share contacts or don’t share contacts. However, with iOS 18, Apple’s “share contacts” process will include more privacy options that embed subtle encouragement to reduce sharing. The impact of the additional choices is definitely that users get more control. Still, there is an additional impact that effectively promotes Apple-owned apps instead of third-party competitors that rely heavily on Contacts, e.g., for peer-to-peer communications, cybersecurity, and other features. This subtle self-preferencing highlights an important tradeoff between fair competition and consumer privacy, both of which have been top-of-mind for several years amongst policymakers in Washington, DC, state capitals, and globally.

Additionally, the new option to share only some Contacts with messaging apps opens the door to more spam, phishing, and hacking. This is also something that consumer advocates should be attentive to.