Report from EuroNews
In Brief – Italy’s competition authority has fined Apple 98 million euro for imposing its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework on third-party add developers starting in 2021. The ATT policy requires app developers to gain explicit user consent via a standardized pop-up before tracking the user’s activity across other apps and websites for advertising purposes. The regulator concluded that the iPhone giant abused its “position of absolute dominance” in the distribution of iOS apps through the App Store when it forced third-party app developers to obtain additional consent for advertising data, which went beyond what EU privacy law requires, and undermined ad-based app business models for smaller developers, without delivering commensurate privacy benefits to users. The investigation, which was coordinated with the European Commission and Italy’s data protection regulator, concluded that the ATT policy disproportionately disadvantaged third-party developers and advertising intermediaries, while Apple continued to benefit from its own advertising operations within the iOS ecosystem.
Context – When Apple announced the ATT policy in 2020, they billed it as a major step forward for user privacy, but the move was soon challenged by many in the ad industry as a way for Apple to harm competitors and grow its own ad business. Apple has consistently claimed that its apps do not collect data when users engage on apps from other providers, but critics argue that Apple has preferential access to other user data that it applies to advertising purposes. Along with the Italian probe, competition regulators have initiated action in Germany, France, Romania and Poland. Last March, France’s antitrust agency announced that it has fined Apple 150 million euros for implemented the ATT in a manner that imposes undue user burdens third-party app developers that are not imposed on Apple’s own apps. Apple recently said it might turn off the ATT feature in Europe due to regulatory pressure that it attributes to ad industry lobbying.