Fakespot, known for its web browser extensions that attempt to eliminate bogus product reviews, suddenly no longer has an iPhone or iPad app – because Amazon sent Apple a takedown request, which Amazon and Fakespot confirm, and Apple decided to remove the app.

The giant retailer says it is concerned about how a new update to the Fakespot app “wrapped” its website without permission, and how this could theoretically be exploited to steal data from Amazon customers. But the founder of Fakespot, Saoud Khalifah, tells The edge that Apple abruptly deleted the app today without any explanation. Apple did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The new Fakespot app launched a little over a month ago on June 3, and I can confirm that it allows you to log into Amazon, browse and purchase items with the Fakespot overlay in high. I downloaded and tried it a few weeks ago to see if it could help spot fake reviews on some new purchases, but I couldn’t come to a conclusion as to whether it actually helped.

But in mid-June, explains the founder of Fakespot, Amazon launched a takedown notice. And just a few hours ago, Apple finally sent a three-line email about how it regretted that the situation could not be resolved amicably and that Fakespot has now been removed from the App Store. “Apple didn’t even give us the option to fix this problem,” Khalifah says. “We just spent months of resources, time and money on this app.”

Amazon tells us that it believes Fakespot violated Apple Directive 5.2.2, which reads:

5.2.2 Third-party sites / services: If your app uses, accesses, monetizes access to, or displays content from a third-party service, make sure that you are specifically authorized to do so under the terms of service for the service. Authorization must be provided upon request.

Amazon also tells us that Fakespot is injecting code into its website, opening up an attack vector and putting customer data (including emails, addresses, credit card information, and customer history at risk). your browser), although it says it doesn’t actually know if Fakespot is using this information.

“The app in question provides customers with misleading information about our sellers and their products, interferes with the activities of our sellers and creates potential security risks. We appreciate Apple’s review of this app against its Appstore guidelines, ”a statement from Amazon read.

But while Fakespot admits that the app injects code to display its own scores, he categorically denies there is any vulnerability and points out that apps that include a web browser view are common – including coupon apps. that Amazon seems to “have no problem wrapping a web view around the browser.” Amazon, however, attempted to warn of the Honey browser coupon extension by suggesting it was a security risk last January.

Regardless of the reason, this is a blow to one of the top vocal critics of Amazon’s review system, as Fakespot is regularly cited in reports on Amazon review fraud. Amazon even bought search ads against the keyword “Fakespot” in the App Store to reduce the potential impact of the app:

“Amazon is ready to intimidate small businesses like ours that showcase their business flaws,” Khalifah said, suggesting that Amazon must have realized that people are choosing their app over the Amazon app. He says Fakespot has racked up 150,000 installs from the iOS App Store, without spending any money on marketing.

Amazon says it regularly audits companies that try to call fake reviews and says Fakespot’s ratings are mostly wrong: “We regularly review products for which Fakespot has rated reviews of a product as unreliable. and their conclusions were wrong more than 80% of the time. They just don’t have the information we have, such as the reviewer, seller, and product history, to accurately determine the authenticity of a review. Amazon suggests it does a much better job of finding fake reviews on its own by scanning 30 million of them every week, although that clearly hasn’t stopped the issues of fake reviews and incentives yet – somehow. something we are still investigating. The edge.

Amazon wouldn’t say if it has contacted Google about the Android version of the app, but that app hasn’t been updated since 2019.

The founder of Fakespot says the company is now evaluating its legal options because it believes mobile is the future of shopping. “We’re now seeing 60/40 percentages in favor of mobile,” Khalifah tells me.

Update, 8:09 p.m. ET: Added mention of Honey browser coupon extension.