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Developers Must Share Phone Number and Address on EU App Store to Meet 'Trader' Requirement Starting in October

CatalinApple said:
I am and as soon as any party in my country will come with the proposal to leave the EU, I will vote to leave the EU. At first I was unhappy when the U.K left the EU, but many years later I believe it's the best decision they have made.
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Honestly, Brexit was a massive mistake. Don't vote to leave the EU, it will **** up your economy like it has done to the UK's.

While you're in the EU you can affect change. You can push your politicians to change the laws. As a UK citizen, we used to have that ability, but we left the EU and now we have to accept its laws if we want to business there. We have to stand in a separate queue for passport control and get our passports checked and stamped. We can only stay 90 days in any 180 days. We have to pay import taxes on goods bought in the EU and brought into the UK.

It's a nightmare. Luckily most people realise this and want to rejoin.
 
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darkpaw said:
No, that's not what they're saying. If they had such a fantastic idea and it was a commercial success, it's likely that they would be able to afford to either have a virtual office and phone number, or they'd set up a company, employ people etc., and would then be using a catch-all email address and phone number. An individual employee wouldn't be required to give up their personal information like their personal email address, personal phone number and home address.

An individual developer has to give up their personal email address, phone number and address, unless they can afford a virtual office and phone number, and a LOT of indie developers cannot afford that.
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I'm not saying that this rule is not a PITA for someone who created an app to scratch his own itch and just want's to sell a few copies to maybe recoup the yearly Apple fee and then some.

On the other hand, if you think that you have a product that could be successful down the road, why not work around the stupid rules creatively? You could offer your app for free for some time, at least until you build some traction, and then once the conditions are right, go all in and invest some money to set up a proper business.

Also, a business address does not have to cost 75 EUR. Maybe a friend or business partner will be willing to share his address with you for a low cost.
 
MilaM said:
I don't think he/she is missing the point. They just came to the conclusion, that the new requirement is not something they want to put up with.
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You are in error. Look at what the poster wrote, I've highlighted the important part

An individual hobbyist's details are their private, personal details. We do not have the money to rent a business address and phone number. You people seem to think we're making tens of thousands of € a month. We aren't. We're lucky to get a couple of sales a week.
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You can see the person uses the word 'hobbyist' and then proceeds to complain that they are lucky to get a couple of SALES a week. SALES, this means the person is selling what they make therefore this implies what they are doing is 'trading'. The poster has a hobby and the end product of that hobby is then sold, ergo trading but yet you can see the poster refers to themselves as a 'hobbyist'. THIS is what the EU is trying to clamp down on, people misidentifying themselves as being anything but a trader, trades which are either directly exclusively or indirectly exclusive to online selling.

This is not only going to catch out app developers but EVERYONE that regularly sells stuff online. Think of all those onlyfans creators who are now going to have to register as self employed (a trader) otherwise they will have to be kicked off the site because the EU will claim they are selling a service therefore they are a trader (online trader) and must register as one. The DSA is going to affect a huge amount of people in the EU that exclusively sell their services/products online.
 
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darkpaw said:
Honestly, Brexit was a massive mistake. Don't vote to leave the EU, it will **** up your economy like it has done to the UK's.

While you're in the EU you can affect change. You can push your politicians to change the laws. As a UK citizen, we used to have that ability, but we left the EU and now we have to accept its laws if we want to business there. We have to stand in a separate queue for passport control and get our passports checked and stamped. We can only stay 90 days in any 180 days. We have to pay import taxes on goods bought in the EU and brought into the UK.

It's a nightmare. Luckily most people realise this and want to rejoin.
Click to expand...
Do you think the U.K will rejoin in the EU in the future?
 
darkpaw said:
Honestly, Brexit was a massive mistake. Don't vote to leave the EU, it will **** up your economy like it has done to the UK's.
Click to expand...
When it happened and in the months before, I felt sorry for the British but understood them in terms of maintaining their identity, such as the pound. But now, looking back, it was good that Brexit happened -- a lesson to other nutty politicians in other EU countries. It is always good to be in a union, like the five fingers, but on the other hand less interference from UK.
darkpaw said:
It's a nightmare. Luckily most people realise this and want to rejoin.
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If you can, you are very welcome back! You know what you've lost. 👍
 
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There are so many comments about setting up burner phone numbers and post office boxes to "get around" the implantation. If that's the solution, then what is the purpose of the requirement?

It seems like, we, the consumers, must take some responsibility ourselves in this vetting process. Why not simply research an app and apply a little reasoning before purchasing it? In my mind, all that should be required is a website. That gives the potential customer a source of information. I assume that most of us make similar assessments when we visit a physical store; we form an idea of the type of store owner we'd be dealing with by the quality of the store environment he or she maintains. Something similar is applicable to with the app developer's website. If I look at an app's website, and it seems AI-generated or undeveloped, I have serious reservations about the app.

For better or worst, realistically, though, the ratings are far more important. If the app has lots of downloads and lots of positive ratings, that's going to carry more weight than a burner phone number and unmonitored post office box.
 
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Also to those reading this thread, the UK is not in the EU therefore the DSA does not apply to them. The UK may have a version of it BUT it will not be the same as the EU's version unless the UK government signs it into UK law which I believe they have not done so.
 
I haven't read through all the comments, but what would stop someone from entering in a bogus address? Also, do they confirm your phone number by sending you a code, or how does that part work?
 
igneousc said:
the EU is a disaster at the internet. What a horrible decision

Pulling my app from the EU for sure, not that it will hurt business, but I'm not spending money hiding my info because of their rules.
Ive never complied with a single GDPR thing either, total nonsense.
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No great loss then, if you do Business in the EU you follow the EU rules, same if I do business in the USA I have to follow the Rules. Personally I'd never do business in the USA none of my apps are listed there.
 
dabx said:
What an unfair law, protecting the privacy just on one side.
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No it is not an unfair law. The buyer is anonymous, even if he is buying using some card or bank, but even there, he is anonymous. But the seller is not.
 
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darkpaw said:
Honestly, Brexit was a massive mistake. Don't vote to leave the EU, it will **** up your economy like it has done to the UK's.


It's a nightmare. Luckily most people realise this and want to rejoin.
Click to expand...
it was a massive mistake but the UK Economy is far from ****ed up.
 
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chmania said:
No it is not an unfair law. The buyer is anonymous, even if he is buying using some card or bank, but even there, he is anonymous. But the seller is not.
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But where is the fairness if the seller (an independent developer) is forced to disclose his private address and only the privacy of the buyer is protected?
 
darkpaw said:
If they had such a fantastic idea and it was a commercial success, it's likely that they would be able to afford to either have a virtual office and phone number,
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They need to specify SOMETHING before it gets to that point. So there you go. Home address and phone number is already out there. Someone commented earlier that PO Boxes wouldn’t work.
 
MilaM said:
I'm not saying that this rule is not a PITA for someone who created an app to scratch his own itch and just want's to sell a few copies to maybe recoup the yearly Apple fee and then some.

On the other hand, if you think that you have a product that could be successful down the road, why not work around the stupid rules creatively? You could offer your app for free for some time, at least until you build some traction, and then once the conditions are right, go all in and invest some money to set up a proper business.

Also, a business address does not have to cost 75 EUR. Maybe a friend or business partner will be willing to share his address with you for a low cost.
Click to expand...
How do you switch from a free model to a paid model and continue to grow? People condemn companies from switching from pay once 7 years ago to a subscription. I also guarantee you that if/when Gmail costs money their usage will drop significantly.
 
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