French antitrust regulators have imposed a €150 million ($162.4 million) fine on Apple for abusing its dominant market position through its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, marking the first regulatory penalty specifically targeting this privacy control mechanism. Reuters stated that while regulators acknowledged that protecting personal data is a legitimate objective, they concluded that Apple’s technical implementation violated Article L.420-2 of the French Commercial Code and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Apple expressed disappointment with the decision but highlighted that “the French Competition Authority has not required any specific changes to ATT.” The company now faces similar investigations in Germany, Italy, Poland, and Romania. “This creates an uneven playing field where Apple can leverage its IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) system selectively, applying stricter standards to competitors than to its own services,” noted the competition authority. It follows last year’s €1.8 billion antitrust penalty imposed on Apple by the European Union for allegedly disadvantageous music streaming competitors on its App Store. The decision follows a three-year investigation triggered by complaints from several French advertising associations, including Alliance Digitale, Syndicat des Regies Internet (SRI), and the Union des Entreprises de Conseil et d’Achat Média (Udecam). Coeuré indicated that Apple must now develop its own compliance strategy, a process that “could take some time” as the company awaits rulings from other European regulators. When users deny tracking permissions, developers receive a value of 0 for the advertisingIdentifier property, effectively limiting their ability to deliver personalized advertisements while Apple retains access to first-party data. The ruling specifically noted that Apple’s implementation “particularly penalized smaller publishers,” who depend heavily on targeted advertising revenue streams. The ATT system, introduced with iOS 14.5 in April 2021, requires apps to obtain explicit permission from users through an AppTrackingTransparency authorization request before tracking their activities across other companies’ apps and websites.
This Cyber News was published on cybersecuritynews.com. Publication date: Wed, 02 Apr 2025 13:45:07 +0000