Apple Hit With App Store Antitrust Suit From Privacy Firm Proton

Apple Inc. was sued by the Swiss privacy technology firm Proton AG which joined other app developers in alleging the iPhone-maker illegally monopolized its app store through predatory policies and commission fees.

The proposed class action filed Monday in California federal court said Apple has used its dominate position in the app distribution market to impose 30% fees on app developers and censor privacy oriented apps, including ones by Proton.

Proton seeks a court order requiring the iOS system to allow for competing app stores and payment systems and seeks monetary damages for app developers, according to the complaint filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Proton, founded in 2014, offers a number of privacy related services, including the encrypted email service Proton Mail as well as the Proton Virtual Private Network service.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of a wider antitrust scrutiny of Apple’s app store, including a recent determination by a California federal judge that Apple had skirted a court order requiring it to open up its app store to third-party payment options.

Apple was sued earlier this year in the same court by the Korean Publishers Association and other app developers who alleged similar anticompetitive violations.

The suit said that privacy-first app services that monetize through subscriptions are dispropotionatley hurt by the 30% commision fee on all revenue generated through payments made on iOS apps.

“In many cases these are also the very companies Apple is directly competing with through its disingenuous ‘privacy’ marketing campaigns,” Proton said in a statement.

Proton’s founder and CEO Andy Yen said in a statement that “joining this lawsuit is the only way to push for tangible changes to Apple’s policies that will benefit developers and American consumers alike.”

Apple didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP represent Proton.

The case is Proton AG v. Apple Inc., N.D. Cal., No. 4:25-cv-05450, 6/30/25.