Yup Teams works for me.
In the UK you can get a legal VOIP number (all telephony is now voip) for like a whopping £1.20 per month
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Developers Now Required to Share Phone Number and Address on EU App Store to Meet 'Trader' Requirement
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In the UK you can get a legal VOIP number (all telephony is now voip) for like a whopping £1.20 per month
Anyway.... this isn't the EU law that app developers should be worrying about. You should be worrying about the Cyber Resilience Act. That's going to require that software sold in the EU has a Declaration of Conformity that confirm that it is "secure". In particular, "software must be developed in a manner that guarantees a level of cybersecurity by implementing security measures and best practices throughout the software development lifecycle". There are going to be a lot more apps that disappear from EU app stores when that hits the fan!
Which is? The EU has a long history of implementing stupid, useless regulations that no one has stopped to think "does this make sense"? For a non-tech example, remember when the EU said companies can't say that their bottled water prevents dehydration?
Again, my concern is about small indy and hobbyist developers. I can think of lots of examples of why someone might release an app with a $.99 cent "unlock other icons" feature or a "tip jar" that only gets a few clicks a year. Why should they have to pay hundreds of dollars so they can give customers a physical address that isn't their home? When even you, a defender of the policy, can't give me a good reason why it should be required.
I appreciate the devil will be in the detail, but in principle isn't that something we'd want?
You are correct, but that doesn’t mean overly burdensome or unjust laws and regulations should go unchallenged.
Because they charge for the app, they act like a business. They collect data. Damn dude the list is too long to run. That is what’s it’s like to run a legitimate business. Nobody is forcing them to do it. It’s their choice.
It's either hack Apple's database to get your info or hack a government database to get your info. Think of the poor identity thieves
GDPR + More = Nightmare from hell, out of control at this point. EU needs to stop now with this kind of stuff and dial things back. Things are completely insane and they are going to be cutoff by products and services day by day as it's an utter nightmare to bother trying to comply with it unless you absolutely have to. I would and do only sell outside of the EU for this reason. Yes I make less money, but also less headaches, nights awake thinking about all of the ways I can be sued IN the USA from someone in the EU for some random violation.
No thanks. I wish more devs and products would do the same and stop the madness.
No thanks. I wish more devs and products would do the same and stop the madness.
Agreed. I was correcting the article's opening claim that all developers that distribute apps in the EU must supply that information, as opposed to all developers declaring themselves traders who distribute apps in the EU.
Again, you can't come up with one valid reason why this is needed. Just blindly defending the government's pointless requirement that is clearly a holdover from before an interconnected digital world. Why is website/email address/phone number not enough? If the EU required a fax number would you be supporting that too? What about telegraph or carrier pigeon?
I mean, in Germany and Austria Google Street View is a black hole because showing "what the outside of your house looks like" is considered an invasion of privacy, but hobbyist developers all over the world are supposed to give everyone in the EU their home address or pay hundreds of dollars a year for a PO Box they don't need (and might not even meet the requirement)? So someone can send them a letter auf Deutsch or in Italiano?
Do check out the details - it has all been published - and let us know what you think. When I looked, my feelings were very negative - well into the "easiest just to not sell there" level.
It’s the law. How is that for a valid reason 🤷♂️🤣
They have a choice. They can, and it’s the smart thing to do, incorporate and keep the risks in a legal entity so they don’t become personally liable. It’s really simple, there is a choice. Choices come with consequences.
As a hobby developer that charges a small fee - that makes me a trader.
I would not offer my app in the EU. No way do I want my home address and phone number published on the App Store.
I would not offer my app in the EU. No way do I want my home address and phone number published on the App Store.
I don't want my business address publicly available. It's a private music production house, and we don't even have a phone number other than our personal mobiles.
(The above refers to using a P.O. box as compared to a physical address, I didn't want to alter the quote.)
I was thinking about that as well, and it's very possible that you need to provide a physical address to register the DUNS number but you then can use a P.O. box number for Apple to display to customers on the App Store. They are two different things, and it would be great if Apple allowed for the ability of a dev to use a P.O. box as their public-facing address.
I agree that's a valid reason for developers to follow it, but that's not a valid reason for the EU to require it. Just because a law exists doesn't make it correct, useful, or a good idea. Pick any year in recorded history and you can find a bad law on the books.
Yep, and the EU's choice in this instance is going to lead to some developers pulling their apps out of the store in the EU, or choosing not to release their app in the EU in the first place. Which isn't good for those developers, EU users, Apple, or those who like me who aren't in the EU but like the idea of hobbyist/indie developers being able to sell apps. Yay. Everyone loses!
In Apple's web form, the address from DUNS is shown. Your only option to change it is to upload documents, which as I recall were required to be something like "court issued" or "government certified" confirming the alternative address.
I don't have the technical expertise to evaluate whether this is likely going to achieve the intended outcome, but as a consumer it certainly does not feel like cybersecurity is generally prioritised by many companies.
Most products I use on a daily basis have to comply with some kind of minimum standards to ensure they are safe (with varying results), so I'm not sure why software should be different. Considering that it feels like you read about a hack, data leak, missing security updates or abandoned products altogether, as a consumer I would actually welcome if companies had to put more effort and ongoing support into making sure their products are safe.
Why should I feel negative about this?
A lot of the information that developers are required to provide (eg: phone number and physical address) just feel redundant to me, and risk disincentivising them from even offering their apps in the EU. Why do I need to know that a particular developer is living half the world away from me or have their phone number? If I need support, an email address or even their social media profile suffices, and if no reply is to be had, then I will simply contemplate switching to a new app.
What's next? Are developers also required to post their mug shots in the App Store?
I assume this is about making sure consumers can identify who they are doing business with and, if necessary, take legal action etc.
That being said, the comment above was about the Cyber Resilience Act, which a previous commenter suggested would even be more problematic for developers.