After France ordered Apple Inc. the American multinational tech company to stop selling iPhone 12 due to above-threshold radiation levels, Belgium also said on Thursday, September 14 that it would review potential health risks linked to the iPhone model launched in 2020.
“It is my duty to make sure all citizens … are safe”, Mathieu Michel, state secretary for digitalisation, said in a statement emailed to Reuters on Thursday.
I have rapidly reached out to the IBPT-BIPT (regulator) to ask for an analysis about the potential danger of the product”, Michel said, adding that he had also asked the regulator to review all Apple smartphones, as well as devices made by other producers, at a later stage.
The German network regulator BNetzA stated that it was in close communication with French officials and may initiate similar procedures. The Dutch digital watchdog also stated that it was looking into the situation and will be requesting an explanation from the US tech giant.
France bans sales of Apple’s iPhone 12
On Tuesday, September 12, France’s radiation watchdog banned sales of Apple’s iPhone 12 after tests that it said showed the smartphone breached European radiation exposure limits.
The Agence Nationale des Frequences (ANFR) said that the model’s Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) – a measure of the rate of radiofrequency energy absorbed by the body from a piece of equipment – was higher than legally allowed.
Speaking to the local newspaper Le Parisien, Jean-Noel Barrot, France’s junior minister for the digital economy said that a software update could resolve the issue. If Apple does not remedy the issue, the ANFR said it will order a nationwide recall of the gadget.
Apple denies radiation claims
Apple, meanwhile, denied the watchdog’s findings, claiming that the iPhone 12 has been validated by various international organisations as meeting global radiation guidelines. The tech giant said it had provided ANFR multiple Apple and independent third-party lab results proving its compliance.
Russian Ministry bans iPhones and iPads for work over fear of espionage
Notably, the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, last month, prohibited employees from using Apple iPhones and iPads for professional use. Russian Minister Maksut Shadaev said that the ban will be enforced on usage of Apple devices for accessing work applications and email exchanges, however, the employees will be allowed to use Apple iPhones and iPads for personal use.
The ban came two months after the Russian main Federal Security Service or the FSB, claimed that thousands of Apple devices had been infiltrated as a result of a US espionage operation. The accusations, however, were refuted by Apple saying that it does not work with any government to make backdoors into any of the Apple products.
It was reported in March of this year that the Kremlin had instructed officials engaged in the preparations for Russia’s presidential election in 2024 to refrain from using iPhones.
