Court: Apple's App Store must become more transparent when it comes to ratings
The Federation of German Consumer Organizations has filed a lawsuit against Apple. It is not obvious enough that Apple does not check reviews for authenticity.
(Image: tre / Mac & i)
Do reviews in the App Store come from real customers? This question was the subject of a lawsuit brought by the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (Verbraucherzentral Bundesverband, vzbv) against Apple. According to the ruling of the Berlin Regional Court, Apple must better inform consumers in future that the star ratings in the App Store are not checked for authenticity (case no. 52 O 254/23). The vzbv has now reported on the ruling from August in a press release.
It is no secret that Apple does not carry out this check. However, customers have to take a close look. The information about this can be found in the terms of use, which is linked at the bottom of the App Store app – and this was not enough for the regional court, according to the reasons for the ruling. Apple had withheld essential information from its users, as the product description of each app does not already state whether and how it is ensured that the reviews really come from consumers who have actually used the app.
Apple pointed out the high proportion of free apps
The court expressed the view that false reviews could lead to users buying apps that they would not otherwise have purchased. According to the reasons for the ruling, Apple had argued at the hearing that 85% of the apps offered in the App Store can be downloaded free of charge.
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The umbrella organization of German consumer associations demands that providers inform consumers transparently about how much they can rely on the authenticity of reviews. "Apple must also adhere to this," says Jutta Gurkmann, Head of Consumer Policy at vzbv.
Judgment not yet final
According to the association, the proceedings against Apple are based on a market survey published by the consumer advocates in July 2023. This came to the conclusion that 27 out of 30 websites that were examined were in breach of their information obligations.
The current ruling against Apple's European branch in Ireland is not yet legally binding. heise online has asked Apple for a statement.
(mki)
