Internet Governance

Editor: Virgilio A.F. Almeida • virgilio@dcc.ufmg.br

How Do App Stores

Challenge the Global
Internet Governance
Ecosystem?
Virgilio A.F. Almeida • Harvard University

Danilo Doneda • Rio de Janeiro State University

Carolina Rossini • Public Knowledge

App stores challenge the culture of openness and resistance to central

authorities cultivated by the pioneers of the Internet. Could multistake-
holder governance bodies bring more inclusivity into the global cyber-
space governance ecosystem?

O
ver four decades, a variety of stakehold- preneurs into the digital economy, but it also
ers have been working both formally and introduced a new set of control points, repre-
informally to build and maintain the gover- sented by the app stores.5 They’re online digital
nance ecosystem that supports a unique and free distribution platforms from which apps can be
Internet.1 To allow the Internet to realize its full downloaded. App stores are associated with a
potential, the organizations involved in its gov- specific operating systems, and the most popu-
ernance aim to keep the Internet open, secure, lar platforms are Android (Google), iOS (Apple),
trustworthy, and accessible to all.2 In the 90s Tim and Windows Apps (Microsoft). The app stores
Berners-Lee introduced the World Wide Web,3 challenge the culture of openness and resistance
with many new ideas that focused on a decen- to central authorities cultivated by the pioneers
tralized and open Internet, where no permis- of the Internet. Several characteristics of the
sion was needed from a central authority to post app stores emphasize the notion of new control
anything and with no central controlling nodes. points in the Internet governance process, such as
However, in the last few years, there has been a the submission processes, the levels of certifica-
shift in the way users access information and ser- tion and quality control required to have the app
vices on the Internet. Users have been migrating accepted, pricing mechanisms, and criteria used
from general-purpose Web browsers to single- to rank and suggest apps to users.
purpose apps, which are standardized pieces of Multistakeholder support, security, privacy,
software designed to run on specific devices and transparency, neutrality, freedom of expression,
written for a specific operating system. There are and competition are central values in the global
more than 1 million apps available in the market Internet governance ecosystem, where many
today, that have been downloaded more than 100 players with different legal statuses operate on
billion times.4 a variety of layers — on local, national, regional,
The surge of apps for smartphones has brought and international levels — driven by technical
innovation, new technologies, and new entre- innovation, user needs, market opportunities, and

november/december 2016 1089-7801/16/$33.00 © 2016 IEEE Published by the IEEE Computer Society 49
Internet Governance

political interests. So, a natural ques- This situation can be regarded as a ket model call for attention. First,
tion that arises is: How do app stores setback from the decentralized and, as users’ identities are much more likely
fit in the global Internet governance was then regarded, ever-growing Web. to be tied to the use of an app than
process? Not that open Web standards don’t is foreseeable on the Web, due to the
play a most important role anymore — app store’s control over the down-
The Market’s Size for several reasons, and not the least load and installation process for a
The importance of apps market and because even if several services are particular device and the constant
its potential ability to shape inno- basically accessed via apps, many of pressure for integration of data from
vation, competition, and consumer them are part of a complex platform one app to another app or Web-based
choice and behavior become more that were built upon or rely on a Web service account. This, added to the
vivid when compared with other core interface. But the empowerment of a fact that app store managers gener-
sources of access to communication few players that run app store mar- ally are in possession of users’ bill-
and content platforms. Since 2014, kets in detriment of a decentralized ing data, makes the set of users’ data
globally, consumers are connecting architecture is evident, and it poses they handle potentially much more
more through mobile devices than several questions regarding not only robust than on an open environment,
desktops. In the US, for instance, com- competition issues, but as more of our making it also much more difficult to
bined with mobile Web, mobile usage interest at this time, user’s rights. This use apps anonymously, for example —
accounts for 60 percent of time spent system change represents a shift of which is different from the Web.
in digital media, while desktop-based power from Internet governance bod- The importance of the operating
digital media consumption makes up ies to the companies responsible for system is also visible when privacy
the remaining 40 percent.6 the operating system. controls are considered. Although
Not only has the method of con- Additionally, the submission pro- apps can have their own setting
nection changed, but the time spent cess controlled by the owners of the panels where users can shape their
with these devices has changed as well. app stores transform them into arbi- privacy preferences, they aren’t stan-
Last year in the US, for every 5.6 hours ters of the freedom of expression and dardized or present in every app. This
of time that consumers spent per day right to innovate, for apps are them- makes for a concrete simplification in
with digital media, it was split with 2.8 selves a conduit of ideas and messages. the management of privacy settings.
hours going to mobile devices. The lack of transparency regarding On the other hand, the OS settings
how apps are ranked and suggested to panels have developed increasingly
Policy Issues users and buyers in the main stores is important privacy options, either
There are a number of issues related another aspect that shows the impor- global or app-specific, where users’
to app stores that should be followed tance of discussing the role of app options on issues such as disclosure
by policy makers. For instance, the stores in the global Internet gover- of geo-locational data, access to
app store market model had a major nance ecosystem. hardware (the microphone, camera,
impact on transparency and open- Another relevant issue has to do and so on), access to stored data (such
ness, due to the fact that mobile with freedom of expression values. as contacts), ad options, and others
Internet users are turning away from One consequence of a closed-app are available. Other instruments as
browsers and are relying on apps. store ecosystem is that, when content the (sometimes mandatory) display
Apps themselves don’t depend on a is one of the criteria used by app store of information related to the user’s
browser, which makes less relevant managers to approve an app, the judg- privacy during an app’s normal use
some user-empowering characteris- ment regarding content evaluation (such as a reminder that locational
tics such as browser controls and Web might harm freedom of expression. In data is being collected) can make for
standards. In turn, the operating sys- an example of such an episode, Frank a more robust privacy environment.
tem’s interface and its design options Pasquale mentions that one app store This can’t be taken for granted, as the
make operating systems regain much — which has strict guidelines forbid- privacy environment is, after all, con-
of their former importance, because ding apps with “objectionable con- trolled by the OS manufacturer, which
available options and predefined tent” — rejected an app designed for can shape the setting and the avail-
standards (as well as non-negotiable downloading and formatting public able options based on several fac-
OS characteristics) are entirely opera- domain texts on the basis of the pos- tors and not merely on the presumed
tion system-dependent. And it’s not sibility it could be used to access a user’s interest.
a coincidence that operating systems version of the Kama Sutra.8 Depending on the OS manage-
are often designed by the same enti- Related to privacy, some specific ment, app standards can be tuned to
ties that controls app store markets.7 characteristics of the app store mar- increase users’ privacy. As an example,

50 www.computer.org/internet/ IEEE INTERNET COMPUTING

 How Do App Stores Challenge the Global Internet Governance Ecosystem?

health apps have recently shown a and informed consent processes, a prac- lization,” J. Information Technology, vol.
move for more transparency and con- tice that at least a large competitor uses. 30, no. 1, 2015, pp. 775–789.
trol in collecting and processing users’ In this instance, the more-controlled 8. F. Pasquale, The Black Box Society: The
data, which some operating systems are system holds the possibility of stricter Secret Algorithms That Control Money and
requiring from app developers. This is a enforcement of privacy and ethics. Information, Harvard Univ. Press, 2015.
clear indication that the use of personal 9. S. Crawford, J. Zittrain, and L. Brem, Game
data is considered particularly relevant Changers: Mobile Gaming Apps and Data
or sensitive (such as locational data),
given the need for the user’s explicit
consent for gathering such data or the
M ultistakeholder governance mech-
anisms engaging diverse stake-
holders have proven that they can 10.
Privacy, background note APSW04, Har-
vard Law School, 2012.
I. Burrington, “Who Controls the Internet?
mandatory demand for renewed con- keep the Internet open, transparent, Ted Cruz’s Fantasy vs. the Reality,” Fusion,
sent in some situations.9 and inclusive. To deal with critical 6 Sept. 2016; http://fusion.net/story/343533/
Additionally, as apps grow more issues such as freedom of expression, who-controls-the-internet.
and more popular, domain names will ethics, privacy, and data protection, 11. K. Turner, “Developers Consider Apple’s
lose their importance, because Inter- multistakeholder governance bodies App Store Restrictive and Anticompetitive,
net traffic mainly will go to mobile could be a promising alternative to Report Shows,” Washington Post, 15 July
apps and not to websites in a browser. support and address the limits of app 2016; http://wpo.st/LMmx1.
ICANN continues to control the stores, while also bringing these play-
domain name system, but app stores ers closer to the global cyberspace Virgilio A.F. Almeida is a professor at the Fed-
will control the mechanisms that lead governance ecosystem. eral University of Minas Gerais (UFMG),
users to information and services.10 Brazil, and currently a faculty associate at
For all the negative aspects of the Acknowledgment the Berkman Klein Center for Internet &
closed-app ecosystems, they might We thank Yasodara Córdova for her valuable Society and a visiting professor at Harvard
offer certain advantages for regulated insights and suggestions. University. His research interests include
areas such as a clinical health study. Internet governance, social algorithms,
The control point established by the References and cyber policies. Almeida has a PhD in
stores raises other governance ques- 1. V.G. Cerf, “The Governance Ecosystem,” computer science from Vanderbilt Univer-
tions. On the positive side, more con- Comm. ACM, vol. 57, no. 4, 2014, p. 7. sity. Contact him at virgilio@dcc.ufmg.br
trol can improve security by making 2. The Global Commission on Internet Gov- or valmeida@cyber.law.harvard.edu.
it harder for hackers and criminals to ernance, One Internet, policy report, Centre
insert malicious software in apps. On for International Governance Innovation, Danilo Doneda is a professor of civil law at
the other side, the app-submission Chatham House, and the Royal Inst. of the Law School of the Rio de Janeiro State
process is viewed by developers as Int’l Affairs, 2016; www.chathamhouse. University (UERJ). His research interests
restrictive. A recent survey11 shows org/about/structure/international-security- include private law and regulation, pri-
that a significant percentage of devel- department/global-commission-internet- vacy, and data protection. Doneda has a
opers think stores and app publishers governance-project. PhD in civil law from UERJ, an MBA from
use anticompetitive practices. 3. T. Berners-Lee et al., “The World-Wide Web,” Instituto de Empresas (IE), and a JD from
Also, the recent entry of big tech- Comm. ACM, vol. 37, no. 8, 1994, pp. 76–82. the University of Sao Paulo. Contact him at
nology enterprises into clinical health 4. M. Kende, The U.S. Mobile App Report, danilo@doneda.net.
studies in the US offers early evidence 2015, tech. report, comScore, 2016; www
of how app ecosystems, which are .comscore.com/Insights/Presentations- Carolina Rossini is the vice president for inter-
generally unregulated by technology and-Whitepapers/2015/The-2015-US- national policy and strategy at Public
policy, ironically might assist in the Mobile-App-Report. Knowledge. Her work focuses on intellectual
enforcement of federal policy in other 5. Y. Benkler, “Degrees of Freedom, Dimensions of property, public policy, cyberlaw, and human
spaces. Clinical studies in the US fall Power,” Daedalus, vol. 145, no. 1, 2016, pp. 18–32. rights. Rossini has an LLM in intellectual
under an umbrella of rules and regu- 6. S. Perez, “Majority of Digital Media Con- property from Boston University. Contact
lations designed to protect the human sumption Now Takes Place in Mobile her at crossini@publicknowledge.org.
“subjects” from unethical experimenta- Apps,” Tech Crunch, 21 Aug. 2014; https://
tion or from harm. These protections techcrunch.com/2014/08/21/majority-of-
Read your subscriptions
extend into app-based studies. Also, in digital-media-consumption-now-takes-
through the myCS pub-
terms of implementing privacy-friendly place-in-mobile-apps.
lications portal at http://
or pro-consumer policies, app stores 7. S. Zuboff, “Big Other: Surveillance Capital-
mycs.computer.org.
can require independent ethical review ism and the Prospects of Information Civi-

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