Italy’s Competition Authority (AGCM) has hit Apple with a €98.6 million ($116 million) fine over the Cupertino company’s App Tracking Transparency feature.
Beginning with the release of iOS 14.5 in April 2021, apps have been required to request permission before tracking a user’s activity across other apps and websites to provide personalized advertising. The feature is known as App Tracking Transparency. If a user taps the “Ask App Not to Track” option, the app is blocked from accessing the device’s advertising identifier.
In a press release and executive summary today, the AGCM claimed App Tracking Transparency rules are “disproportionate,” and “harmful” to app developers and advertisers, finding that Apple had abused its dominant position in the EU market.
While the regulator doesn’t have any issues with Apple’s policies that protect users’ privacy and security, it found that the App Tracking Transparency feature is “excessively burdensome for developers.”
It objected to iPhone and iPad users in the EU being required to give “double consent” due to being required to deal with both App Tracking Transparency and GDPR-related permission prompts in apps, saying it was harmful to app developers and advertisers.
“Apple could have achieved the same level of privacy protection for its users through means less restrictive of competition,” the AGCM said. “This would have prevented the unilateral imposition of additional burdens on third-party developers, thereby avoiding the above-mentioned double consent requests for advertising purposes.”
AGCM also found that the App Tracking Transparency rules could possibly generate financial benefits for Apple, even though Apple apps do not show an App Tracking Transparency prompt due to Apple’s apps not tracking user activity across other apps and websites.
Apple said it will appeal the decision, while promoting the privacy benefits of App Tracking Transparency.
