Statement on Kaspersky Lab’s application to the FAS regarding Apple’s abuse of its dominant position in the market

Kaspersky Lab has filed a complaint with the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia regarding Apple’s policy in the parental control applications market for mobile devices with iOS.

From Kaspersky Lab’s point of view, Apple has started to use its dominant position to create competitive advantage for its own Screen Time application. This is reflected in the demand that all iOS developers have to remove configuration profiles from their applications.

In order to keep the Kaspersky Safe Kids for iOS application available to our customers in the App Store, we had to exclude the use of configuration profiles. This is equal to the removal of the Application Blocking and Safari Browser Blocking functions. These functions allow parents to block applications carrying content that is inappropriate for the child's age and to block the Safari browser in order to ensure that children remain safe while surfing the internet. As a result, customers’ children who use iPhones are exposed to various content threats.

As a responsible developer of high quality security software products, Kaspersky Lab can’t ignore the interests of its customers - parents who want to care for and protect their children - and has therefore decided to file the application. This situation is concerning to many companies promoting parental control software. For some of them, the development and distribution of such software is their main source of business income.

Kaspersky Lab has a long-term and successful partnership with Apple, and only decided to submit an appeal to the FAS after several unsuccessful rounds of direct negotiations with the company. Kaspersky Lab wants to make sure users have access to a greater choice of security solutions and an overall higher level of protection.