(Reuters) - Apple has submitted a legal challenge to an EU order to open up its closed ecosystem to rivals such as Meta and Alphabet's Google, saying the demands are unreasonable and hamper innovation.

The European Commission had in March detailed how Apple must comply with the Digital Markets Act, which aims to rein in the power of Big Tech.

Apple said the EU's interoperability requirements create "a process that is unreasonable, costly, and stifles innovation".

"These requirements will also hand data-hungry companies sensitive information, which poses massive privacy and security risks to our EU users," it said in a statement.

"These deeply flawed rules that only target Apple - and no other company - will severely limit our ability to deliver innovative products and features to Europe, leading to an inferior user experience for our European customers."

Meta, Google, Spotify ( SPOT ) and Garmin are among companies that have requested access to Apple users' data.

The legal fight will likely take years to play out in court. Until then, Apple will have to comply with the EU order.

The Commission ordered Apple to give rival makers of smartphones, headphones and virtual reality headsets access to its technology and mobile operating system so they can connect with Apple's iPhones and iPad tablets.

It also set out a detailed process and timeline for Apple to respond to interoperability requests from app developers.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)