Apple now faces fresh criticism after investigators said the App Store hosted dozens of apps linked to organizations under United States sanctions. The claims raise new questions about Apple’s screening process and the company’s long-standing message that the App Store stays safe and trustworthy for users. The report says these apps came from groups the U.S. government classifies as national security risks.
Apple frequently promotes the App Store as a protected space for both users and developers. The company highlights years of fraud prevention and states that tight control keeps customers safe. It also uses this argument to defend its control over how people download iPhone apps.
New research paints a different picture. According to the Tech Transparency Project, Apple hosted 52 apps tied to sanctioned groups. Google hosted 18.
What Investigators Found
The group said the apps were linked to Russian banks that support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, a Chinese paramilitary group accused of human rights abuses, and a company owned by a Lithuanian drug trafficker. According to the report, none of these developers tried to hide who they were. Their App Store pages listed names, sellers, or copyright holders that matched U.S. sanctioned entities.
Investigators wrote: All of the apps listed a developer, seller, copyright holder, or other information that matched with a U.S.-sanctioned entity.
The group says this means Apple and Google should have spotted the problem much earlier.
The findings also revisit Apple’s past issues. In 2019, the U.S. Treasury fined the company for hosting an app tied to a sanctioned drug trafficker from Slovenia. Apple then promised to improve its sanctions-screening tools as part of the settlement.
Here, the Tech Transparency Project says Apple still falls short six years later. After receiving the report, Apple removed the apps in question.
The Washington Post reported that Apple does not agree the listings violated U.S. sanctions. Still, the apps disappeared shortly after the findings reached the company.
Katie Paul, the director of the Tech Transparency Project, said:
Apple and Google promise their users a safe and trusted place to find applications for their devices, but both companies’ failure to identify clearly sanctioned entities raises questions about how these companies vet the apps in their stores.
