Apple Faces Scrutiny as Sanctioned Entities Slip Through App Store Controls

[MacRumors]

Apple's App Store has been unlawfully hosting dozens of apps tied to U.S.-sanctioned companies, according to a new watchdog report (via The Washington Post).

The Tech Transparency Project, a non-profit advocacy group, flagged 52 apps in the App Store that had links to entities found on the Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs), a designation that prohibits U.S. companies from doing business with them.

Linked organisations included Russian financial institutions such as Gazprombank and National Standard Bank propping up Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, and China's Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), which has been sanctioned for involvement in repression of Uyghur minorities. Another app was run by a company owned by an accused Lithuanian drug trafficker.

The linked entities reportedly used name variants, shell developers, or partial references to obscure their sanctions status.

Google's Play Store was also found to be hosting 18 apps for similarly sanctioned organizations. Google took down all but one of the apps after being contacted by The Post. Apple removed 35 out of 52 during or after the investigation. Apple disputed that all the flagged apps violate sanctions, but said it was enhancing its review process.

Apple previously committed to improving sanctions detection after a 2019 Treasury settlement involving a naming-variation failure.

According to The Post, the Treasury could have fined Apple more than $70 million at the time, but said it accepted a settlement of less than $1 million because Apple had self-reported, had not had a violation in the preceding five years, and promised to revamp its sanction search tools "to fully capture spelling and capitalization variations and to account for country-specific business suffixes."

Legal experts say that prior agreement increases Apple's exposure now, since the latest similar lapses suggest its promised improvements were insufficient. The findings also call into question Apple's long-standing claim that its App Store provides a "safe and trusted" environment for users.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Faces Scrutiny as Sanctioned Entities Slip Through App Store Controls

 

[HappyDude20]

“Enhancing the review process”

Sure Apple, whatever you say.

 

[Bkxmnr]

Ouch! Seems Apple needs to cross reference the OFAC list.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Ouch! Seems Apple needs to cross reference the OFAC list.

Yeah was going to say, “don’t they receive OFAC updates?” I get emails normally once a day that the OFAC list has been updated.

 

[Skyscraperfan]

That's the problem with the walled garden. It makes Apple a tool of the US administration. In other countries we would call it censorship.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

So Apple doesn't carefully comply with the government's requests - just the ones from Donald Trump (and cronies), gotcha.

 

[Tig_one]

Pull out of the U.S. Tim!

 

[CWallace]

Ouch! Seems Apple needs to cross reference the OFAC list.

"The linked entities reportedly used name variants, shell developers, or partial references to obscure their sanctions status."

It sounds like at least some of the apps flagged had obfuscated themselves so as to not appear to be part of the OFAC list.

 

[joeblow7777]

That's the problem with the walled garden. It makes Apple a tool of the US administration. In other countries we would call it censorship.

Don't the same rules apply to Google?

 

[WarmWinterHat]

"The linked entities reportedly used name variants, shell developers, or partial references to obscure their sanctions status."

It sounds like at least some of the apps flagged had obfuscated themselves so as to not appear to be part of the OFAC list.

So The Tech Transparency Project can figure out this out, but a $4 trillion company with 164k worldwide employees, with about 5k of those in business and regulatory compliance, can't?

Hmm

Don't the same rules apply to Google?

It would if the Android ecosystem was a walled garden. It's not.

 

[sw1tcher]

Google's Play Store was also found to be hosting 18 apps for similarly sanctioned organizations. Google took down all but one of the apps after being contacted by The Post. Apple removed 35 out of 52 during or after the investigation. Apple disputed that all the flagged apps violate sanctions, but said it was enhancing its review process.

So Apple will dispute that certain apps are a violation of so-and-so, but other apps

ICEBlock App Developer Sues Trump Officials, Claims Apple Was Pressured to Remove App

The developer behind the ICEBlock app that Apple removed from the App Store at the Trump administration's request is suing for suppression of free speech. The lawsuit names Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, and other government officials, accusing them of First Amendment violations (via NPR). Key to the...

www.macrumors.com

Apple will pull quickly.

Interesting.


Remember when Tim Cook said Apple "treat every developer the same. We have open and transparent rules... It's a rigorous process, because we care so deeply about privacy and security and quality. We do look at every app before it goes on. Those rules apply evenly to everyone." ?

I do.

 

[bmark]

Pull out of the U.S. Tim!

That will never happen! THat's like asking him to pull out of the EU.

 

[Hajj.david]

So Apple will dispute that certain apps are a violation so-and-so, but other apps

ICEBlock App Developer Sues Trump Officials, Claims Apple Was Pressured to Remove App

The developer behind the ICEBlock app that Apple removed from the App Store at the Trump administration's request is suing for suppression of free speech. The lawsuit names Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, and other government officials, accusing them of First Amendment violations (via NPR). Key to the...

www.macrumors.com

Apple will pull quickly.

Interesting.

Yea because an app obviously intended to obstruct justice is much easier to find and pull then apps actively trying to hide who they are and where their money comes from

 

[bmark]

That's the problem with the walled garden. It makes Apple a tool of the US administration. In other countries we would call it censorship.

China, Russia and the UK have censorship and worse measures!

 

[WarmWinterHat]

China, Russia and the UK have censorship and worse measures!

That's nice.

I live in the US and am currently concerned about what is happening here, not here in comparison to other countries.

 

[bmark]

That's nice.

I live in the US and am currently concerned about what is happening here, not here in comparison to other countries.

I live in the US as well and there is no censorship. If there was the main stream media would be pro Trump instead of liberal based.

 

[Stevez67]

It has been, and always will be, a game of wack-a-mole.

 

[sw1tcher]

Yea because an app obviously intended to obstruct justice is much easier to find and pull then apps actively trying to hide who they are and where their money comes from

The app is designed to inform people where ICE agents are. It helps U.S. citizens avoid ICE agents and their B.S since they're randomly grabbing people off the streets based solely on their appearance (skin color and other attributes) or the language they're speaking.

Report: U.S. citizens detained unlawfully by federal immigration agents

Five Americans, who were detained by agents previously, testified before a Senate subcommittee Tuesday.

www.nbclosangeles.com

Report: U.S. citizens detained unlawfully by federal immigration agents

December 9, 2025

A new U.S. Senate report released Tuesday alleged that U.S. citizens, including several Americans in Southern California, were unlawfully detained by federal immigration agents during recent enforcement operations.

The "Unchecked Authority" report outlined nearly two dozen cases between June and November.

Five of the citizens who dealt with immigration agents testified before Congress Tuesday, challenging repeated claims by the Department of Homeland Security that no such detentions have occurred.

Andrea Velez, a U.S. citizen who was taken into custody in early June during an operation in downtown Los Angeles, shared her harrowing experience as she told the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that agents grabbed her pm on her way to work.

"I kept saying I was a U.S. citizen," Velez, who said she used her work bag to fight against an agent, testified Tuesday. "They got my Real ID. They didn't care. They never even bothered looking at it. They just kept saying I was an alleged U.S. citizen."


If non-citizens use the app to avoid capture as well, that's just an unfortunate cost. It's similar to the unfortunate cost of gun deaths:

“I think it’s worth it. It’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God given rights. That’s a prudent deal. It is rational."

 

[bmark]

If non-citizens use the app to avoid capture as well, that's just an unfortunate cost. It's similar to the unfortunate cost of gun deaths:

“I think it’s worth it. It’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God given rights. That’s a prudent deal. It is rational."

People kill people. Do you want to ban knives, rope and anything that can used as a weapon?

 

[sw1tcher]

I live in the US as well and there is no censorship.

So the Trump administration targeting U.S. universities with funding cuts or law firms because they represent(ed) certain clients is not censorship?

What about FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatening Disney/ABC for comments made by Jimmy Kimmel:

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Carr suggested that Disney, ABC’s parent company, should address Kimmel’s conduct before the FCC gets involved. “You could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this,” Carr said.

Or the White House banning the Associate Press?

https://www.ap.org/media-center/ap-in-the-news/2025/the-associated-press-banned-from-white-house-press-pool-renews-request-to-court-for-reinstatement/

How about the Trump Admin cutting $1.1 billion in public broadcasting funds to NPR and PBS stations because he doesn't like their programming?

How about Trump suing the WSJ for $10 billion all because they wrote a story about Trump's sexually suggestive birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein?

Trump sues Wall Street Journal over Epstein report, seeks $10 billion

The paper stands by its reporting, a Dow Jones spokesperson said.

www.reuters.com

Next thing you're going to tell me is that Florida, Texas, and other states banning certain books from school and public libraries is not censorship.

 

[bmark]

So the Trump administration targeting U.S. universities with funding cuts or law firms because they represent(ed) certain clients is not censorship?

What about FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatening Disney/ABC for comments made by Jimmy Kimmel:

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Carr suggested that Disney, ABC’s parent company, should address Kimmel’s conduct before the FCC gets involved. “You could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this,” Carr said.

Or the White House banning the Associate Press?

https://www.ap.org/media-center/ap-in-the-news/2025/the-associated-press-banned-from-white-house-press-pool-renews-request-to-court-for-reinstatement/

How about the Trump Admin cutting $1.1 billion in public broadcasting funds to NPR and PBS stations because he doesn't like their programming?

How about Trump suing the WSJ for $10 billion all because they wrote a story about Trump's sexually suggestive birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein?

Trump sues Wall Street Journal over Epstein report, seeks $10 billion

The paper stands by its reporting, a Dow Jones spokesperson said.

www.reuters.com

The previous administration selected only the media outlets they wanted to talk to. That was censorship and the media loved it. I guess it depends on the side of the issue you are on.

 

[t0rqx]

Exactly the reason I have not visited the App Store for ten years. Its becoming more Android.

 

[sw1tcher]

The previous administration selected only the media outlets they wanted to talk to. That was censorship and the media loved it. I guess it depends on the side of the issue you are on.

Whataboutism. Address what I posted instead of trying to deflect.

 

[goonie4life9]

Folks, it's really not that difficult. Apple is the world's largest startup, with very limited resources. They discovered at the very last minute, literally after the apps were approved and released, that the apps were tied to sanctioned companies. Believe you me, nobody was more surprised by this than Apple. The good news is now that Apple has learned this, they have discovered the secret to a better app review process. Stay tuned for Apple to take app reviews to the next level. The ALL NEW app review process will truly be a game changer for the ultra pro privacy that Apple is known for. Apple thinks you're gonna love it!

But seriously, these kind of things make it more and more difficult for Apple to credibly claim that their review process is necessary to protect users.

 

[bmark]

Whataboutism. Address what I posted instead of trying to deflect.

WSJ article was a bunch of lies. FCC chairman made a comment but never acted on anything. White House can ban media outlets if they don't follow proper protocol. PBS/NPR are liberal biased media and they shouldn't get government funding.