Connect DSA trader question

I'm employed by an LLC (actually German GmbH). When I use the form in App Store Connect, it seems to display my name and the name of the LLC. Is it possible to avoid the display of my name?

Hi there,

I am posting here what I have found and understood of the DSA law. Be advised that I am NOT a lawyer, so please understand that this is just what I understood by reading parts of the law and is not a legal advice. Nonetheless I encourage you to discuss and criticize my findings.

Article 3, Definitions. Paragraph (f). ‘trader’ means any natural person, or any legal person irrespective of whether it is privately or publicly owned, who is acting, including through any person acting in his or her name or on his or her behalf, for purposes relating to his or her trade, business, craft or profession;

Article 30, Traceability of traders, Paragraph (1)

1. Providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders shall ensure that traders can only use those online platforms to promote messages on or to offer products or services to consumers located in the Union if, prior to the use of their services for those purposes, they have obtained the following information, where applicable to the trader:

(a) the name, address, telephone number and email address of the trader; (b) a copy of the identification document of the trader or any other electronic identification as defined by Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (40); (c) the payment account details of the trader; (d) where the trader is registered in a trade register or similar public register, the trade register in which the trader is registered and its registration number or equivalent means of identification in that register; (e) a self-certification by the trader committing to only offer products or services that comply with the applicable rules of Union law.

In the article 30 "Providers of online platforms" above, I think the law refers in our case to Apple Inc that provides the App Store platform to the traders, while traders refers the traders that allow consumers to conclude distance contracts.

The distance contracts are defined in L 304/73 as

(7) ‘distance contract’ means any contract concluded between the trader and the consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded;

The definition of distance contract is not very clear. But again I am not a lawyer. I do not understand if the word contract refers to subscriptions, in-app purchase, single-purchase, or if it just refers to contracts stipulated with the clients outside the App Store platform.

Anyway, the crucial part I found is that the article 30 is contained within Section 4 that starts with the following article: Article 29

Article 29. Exclusion for micro and small enterprises.

1. This Section shall not apply to providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders that qualify as micro or small enterprises as defined in Recommendation 2003/361/EC.

This Section shall not apply to providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders that previously qualified for the status of a micro or small enterprise as defined in Recommendation 2003/361/EC during the 12 months following their loss of that status pursuant to Article 4(2) thereof, except when they are very large online platforms in accordance with Article 33.

So in my understanding if you have a small business you should not provide the phone number address and other information requested in article 30, because article 30 is inside Section 4 which starts with article 29 that is exonerating micro os small enterprises from the requirements of the law.

Do you think my conclusion is accurate?

Please let's discuss about that.

This Section shall not apply to providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders that qualify as micro or small enterprises

Hmm, where are the brackets in that? Is it:

This Section shall not apply to (providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders) that qualify as micro or small enterprises

Or:

This Section shall not apply to providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with (traders that qualify as micro or small enterprises)

?

I believe it is the former. Apple is in no sense a micro or small enterprise, obviously. And if there were any doubt, read clause 2 of article 29:

this Section shall apply to providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders that have been designated as very large online platforms

Apple has been so-designated.

this Exclusion for micro and small enterprises formula is also present on the Section 3

In section 3, it's absolutely clear that it is referring to the size of the platform, not of the traders using the platform.

Do you think my conclusion is accurate?

No.

(By the way, someone asked how long they have to supply the required data: I now see that the regulation provides 12 months; Apple may or may not actually allow that long!)

My desire as well. I've taken my mostly free apps off the EU stores. I still see Apple asking for classification re trader status.

@endecotp Yes you're absolutely right about Section 3. My mistake.

However section 4, Article 30, Traceability of traders. is the one that we should look at. They are talking about the documents that Apple should request to the traders that do not qualify as micro or small enterprises.

(a) the name, address, telephone number and email address of the trader; (b) a copy of the identification document of the trader or any other electronic identification as defined by Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (40); (c) the payment account details of the trader; (d) where the trader is registered in a trade register or similar public register, the trade register in which the trader is registered and its registration number or equivalent means of identification in that register; (e) a self-certification by the trader committing to only offer products or services that comply with the applicable rules of Union law.

The paragraph in Article 29 has no commas so I think you should read it like this:

This Section shall not apply to providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with (traders that qualify as micro or small enterprises)

This is the answer of ChatGPT.

I really don't give a flying **** what ChatGPT thinks it means.

Three things to consider:

1. Why would section 3 exclude platforms that are small, but section 4 exclude traders that are small?

2. What do you think the purpose of this regulation actually is? Consumers would have no trouble tracking down large traders if they want to complain. It's specifically so that consumers can complain about scam / non-functional apps from traders who would otherwise be difficult to track down.

3. If you parse it as you want, then as the App Store is the platform that includes small traders, Apple doesn't need to collect info from anyone. Which makes no sense.

Here on Reddit is something shared by an "associate professor of law" who works "with the DSA and EU tech law in general" specifically for the confusion of several iOS indie devs.

https://www.reddit.com/r/iOSProgramming/comments/1bklvcx/important_please_read_this_legal_info_if_worried/

He also did put together a small "quick guide" linked there.

But again: This is no legal advice at all neither by me or him as he mentioned there.

Developing my own apps is definitely not my main income but I do make a few dollars with IAP. It's a hobby right now besides my full-time job but I also would put more work into it when I see a good reason for it.

So personally, I would identify myself more as a trader than a non-trader from all I have read so far. And I also got a Postbox just for this purpose. If it's not accepted I will probably leave EU market (although I am an EU citizen).

I asked the EU, because I’m earning a little bit money besides my full-time job. As far as I understand, small companies don’t need to post their informations. But absolutely have no idea, also.

Their answer:

Thank you for contacting the Europe Direct Contact Centre. According to the Digital Services Act (DSA), platforms will need to obtain certain details for traders before they use their services.

For traders already using such services, providers shall make their best efforts to obtain the information listed from the traders within 12 months from 17 February 2024. However, this shall not apply to providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders that qualify as micro or small enterprises as defined in Recommendation 2003/361/EC: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32003H0361

For further details of the specific Articles and Sections of the DSA that concern this please see below: Article 2(b) of the Digital Services Act (DSA) states that “(t)his Regulation lays down harmonised rules on the provision of intermediary services in the internal market. In particular, it establishes (…) (b) rules on specific due diligence obligations tailored to certain specific categories of providers of intermediary services.” Section 4, Chapter III of the DSA lays down further provisions applicable to providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders.

Pursuant to Article 30, those providers “shall ensure that traders can only use those online platforms to promote messages on or to offer products or services to consumers located in the Union if, prior to the use of their services for those purposes, they have obtained the following information, where applicable to the trader: (a) the name, address, telephone number and email address of the trader; (b) a copy of the identification document of the trader or any other electronic identification as defined by Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (40); (c) the payment account details of the trader; (d) where the trader is registered in a trade register or similar public register, the trade register in which the trader is registered and its registration number or equivalent means of identification in that register; (e) a self-certification by the trader committing to only offer products or services that comply with the applicable rules of Union law.” Article 30(2) provides that “(u)pon receiving the information referred to in paragraph 1 and prior to allowing the trader concerned to use its services, the provider of the online platform allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders shall, through the use of any freely accessible official online database or online interface made available by a Member State or the Union or through requests to the trader to provide supporting documents from reliable sources, make best efforts to assess whether the information referred to in paragraph 1, points (a) to (e), is reliable and complete. (…)

As regards traders that are already using the services of providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders for the purposes referred to in paragraph 1, on 17 February 2024, the providers shall make their best efforts to obtain the information listed from the traders concerned within 12 months. Recital 73 states that “(t)o ensure an efficient and adequate application of that obligation, without imposing any disproportionate burdens, providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders should make best efforts to assess the reliability of the information provided by the traders concerned, in particular by using freely available official online databases and online interfaces, such as national trade registers and the VAT Information Exchange System, or request the traders concerned to provide trustworthy supporting documents, such as copies of identity documents, certified payment accounts’ statements, company certificates and trade register certificates.”

Finally, please note that under Article 29, Section 4 of Chapter III “shall not apply to providers of online platforms allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders that qualify as micro or small enterprises as defined in Recommendation 2003/361/EC”, and that Article 3(f) defines a trader as “any natural person, or any legal person irrespective of whether it is privately or publicly owned, who is acting, including through any person acting in his or her name or on his or her behalf, for purposes relating to his or her trade, business, craft or profession” Therefore, as stated above, classified websites allowing consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders, as long as they do not qualify as micro or small enterprises, will need to obtain the information laid down in Article 30(1) from traders using their services, and providers of those services will assess on a best effort basis whether the information provided is reliable and complete.

The Commission and the national Digital Service Coordinators (DSCs) are responsible for supervising, enforcing and monitoring the DSA. Each Member State has designated a Digital Services Coordinator (DSC), who is responsible for all matters relating to the application and enforcement of the DSA in that country. For more information, please contact them directly: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/dsa-dscs

You can read more about the Digital Services Act here https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-services-act-package

We hope you find this information useful. Please contact us again if you have other questions about the European Union, its activities or institutions.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and none of the text below should be regard as legal advice.

In my reading of the official and final text, traders that qualify as micro- and small-sized companies are exempted from having their detailed contact data published on the platform.

The Contact Information Verification form on App Store Connect does not provide an option for a self-declaration as a micro- or small-sized company. Instead, it cannot be completed without filling the e-mail and phone number fields. This form states that this information will appear on the App Store in certain countries or regions. This form therefore violates the DSA, and Apple should amend it.

I'm also very confused. I'm an indie/hobby developer that has a paid for app that doesn't sell many units (only 40 in the 3+ years it's been available), but since it's a paid app, that would seem to qualify me as a trader.

As I said, I'm not making any real profit. Certainly not worth having my real contact information out there and also not worth setting up a business address or LLC

Can I just exclude it from the EU store and say I'm a non-trader? Or should I just make it a free app so that those few people who bought it can still get updates.

I'm an indie/hobby developer that has a paid for app that doesn't sell many units (only 40 in the 3+ years it's been available)

The important consideration is whether this is your “trade, business, craft or profession”.