Apple and Google have warned the US lawmakers that if the bipartisan antitrust legislation aimed at limiting the influence of big tech giants becomes law, it could risk consumers' privacy and security.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will discuss the American Innovation and Choice Online Act on January 20th, 2022, a bipartisan bill that advocates claim will protect internet competition. Apple, Amazon.com Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., and Facebook's Meta Platforms Inc. are among the firms whose power will be limited by the legislation.

After years of pressure from competitors who claim Apple takes much of the revenue earned through its app marketplace, the company's immensely profitable App Store business is in the limelight. Congress' efforts to block Apple from barring ‘sideloading’, the practice of putting software onto iPhones outside of the App Store's protections, would expose users to security risks because those programs would not be verified, according to the company.

As a result, Apple wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, ranking Republican Chuck Grassley, Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, and ranking Republican Mike Lee of the subcommittee. This letter stresses on Apple's attempt to preserve its App Store from government supervision and measures that may upset its business model.

“After a tumultuous year that witnessed multiple controversies regarding social media, whistle-blower allegations of long-ignored risks to children, and ransomware attacks that hobbled critical infrastructure, it would be ironic if Congress responds by making it much harder to protect the privacy and security of Americans’ personal devices," Tim Powderly, Apple’s senior director of government affairs, said in the letter. “Unfortunately, that is what these bills would do."

Furthermore, the bills "erect very severe impediments" for Apple to implement new privacy safeguards, according to the letter. The legislation would also put the business's new App Tracking Transparency feature, which requires users to agree whether apps can monitor them across other apps and websites, "in peril," according to the company. Meta Platforms Inc. and other social network businesses have criticized the function for affecting ad income, while Apple claims that the method has received "overwhelmingly positive" customer feedback.

There is bipartisan momentum for legislation to challenge the market power of the US’ tech giants. Although congressional leaders have been focused on other issues, an antitrust measure targeting internet behemoths could become more appealing as other Democratic initiatives stagnate and the window for securing legislative victories before the November midterm elections tightens.

In a blog post, Alphabet Inc.'s Google, on the other hand, slammed the legislation, claiming that it will stifle popular services like Google Search and Gmail. Google, like Apple, argued the bills would jeopardize user security and privacy and damage consumers.

“Legislation being debated in the House and Senate could break these and other popular online services, making them less helpful and less secure, and damaging American competitiveness," Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker said in the blog post. “We’re deeply concerned about these unintended consequences."

The Klobuchar-Grassley bill is expected to be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. Senators should include language in the bill that allows for activity that "improves consumer welfare," according to Apple's letter "the usual antitrust enforcement standard "We will continue to engage with the committee to develop workable solutions to address competition concerns while preserving consumers' privacy and security in the future," the business added."

The White House hasn’t explicitly endorsed the Klobuchar-Grassley bill in public, but Press Secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this month that President Joe Biden is “encouraged to see bipartisan interest in Congress in passing legislation to address the power of tech platforms through antitrust legislation and to protect privacy."