5. 4 Legal: VPN Apps

Hello,

Thank you for your response.

However, we still found that your app is marketed as being able to bypass geo-restrictions or government firewalls via VPN, which may be considered illegal in some of the locations where this app is available.

It would be appropriate to remove all content and features regarding bypassing geo-restrictions or government firewalls.

We look forward to reviewing your resubmission.

Best regards,

App Store Review


Can anyone help me?

What does this question mean, and what exactly should be modified?

We have modified the release country, and have tried to add warnings describing the addition of laws and regulations in some countries. We have also tried to check the use of IP. Only legal IPs can be used.

What should I do?

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Ladder Network
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I assume your app uses a VPN of some sort. When a device uses the US App Store to purchase your app that gives the device the ability to use a VPN wherever it is. In some countries that is illegal. You must identify the country in which the device is located and determine whether that country allows VPN. If it does not you must disable the VPN.


One simple approach is to use CLLocationManager to determine if your latitude and longitude is in the US.

Posted by
PBK
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Does your app provide or promote a means to bypass any restrictions by any means?


>App Store Connect status is Metadata Rejected, we do NOT require a new binary.


That means you do not have to change the app, just the info that users see in the store. Can you share that app's 'Description'?


What are the countries you're releasing into?

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KMT
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thank you for your reply


The response from the review team was:

Since your App Store Connect status is Metadata Rejected, we do NOT require a new binary. To revise the metadata, visit App Store Connect to select your app and revise the desired metadata values. Once you’ve completed all changes, reply to this message in Resolution Center and we will continue the review.

Posted by
Ladder Network
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At this point your app was only Metadata Rejected. Perhaps changing certain claims in the metadata will satisfy that rejection.


But it seems like your app binary has functionality that allows the user to bypass government mandated firewalls. That is what App Review is concluding by reading the metadata. That functionality may be useable by users who buy the app from the US App Store (or any other App Store) and then use your app inside a country whose government has such firewalls. If that is true then once App Review starts examining your app they will reject the binary. Therefore you must change the metadata and add geo-fencing to the app that prevents it from bypassing government mandated firewalls in countries like China.

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PBK
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