• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, May 3, 2024

Fortnite developer Epic Games recently asked a federal judge to issue an injunction that would force Google to make significant changes to the way it operates the Play store.

Among other requests, Epic asked U.S. District Court Judge James Donato in San Francisco to order Google to allow Android users to “sideload” some apps -- meaning to download them from sources other than the Play store -- with a single tap and no additional warnings. Epic also wants Donato to order Google to refrain from prohibiting or even discouraging smartphone manufacturers from blocking other companies' pre-installed apps or app stores.

Epic requested the injunction after prevailing against Google on antitrust claims relating to the Play store, including claims that Google monopolized the markets for Android app distribution and Android in-app billing.

Google -- which has signaled it plans to appeal that verdict -- on Thursday urged Donato to reject Epic's proposed injunction for numerous reasons, including that its provisions would threaten users' privacy.

“The proposed remedy would harm Android users because it contains no exceptions to protect user privacy and security and overall user experience,” Google writes.

“Under Epic's proposal, Google would be unable to adopt reasonable policies to protect users from harmful pre-installed apps or app installers -- apps that have the powerful permission to install other apps,” the company says.

The company adds that Epic's proposed injunction would prevent Google from asking a manufacturer to avoid pre-installing software that “tracked a user’s location without consent,” or that installed other software that users don't want.

Google also noted that four years ago, Privacy International and other groups specifically asked CEO Sundar Pichai to crack down on pre-installed apps that could compromise Android users' privacy.

The company also noted that it already agreed to streamline procedures for sideloading apps, but said the proposed injunction's terms regarding sideloading are so broad that they would prohibit Google from warning users about risks.

Epic's proposed restrictions would require Google to allow non-Play store apps to be sideloaded by a single tap and no extra warnings, unless the app was “known malware,” or the app had failed to go through an as-yet uncreated “notarization-like” procedure.

But Google says it often doesn't “know” that a non-Play store app is malware.

“Instead, Google provides a general warning regarding sideloading when the user enables sideloading, and it may provide additional warnings if it identifies additional risk signals for an app,” the company writes. “Epic's proposal will prevent Google from providing commonsense warnings in these scenarios.”

Google also says Epic's proposed “notarization-like” process is too vague and fails to address questions such as what the process would involve, which company would conduct it, and what standards Google should apply in reviewing apps.

“Google -- and its customers -- would bear the risks of Android being the first consumer operating system to ever implement decentralized notarization for app review,” Google writes. “If the notarization process fails to catch a malicious app or if an app cleared by Google later turns malicious, Google would face the reputational and brand risk, even though the app was not distributed by Google and was not available on the Google Play store.”

Donato will hold a hearing regarding the proposed injunction on May 23.