Apple has been fined €98.6 million ($116 million) by Italy’s antitrust authority after discovering that the corporate’s App Monitoring Transparency (ATT) privateness framework restricted App Retailer competitors.
The Italian Competitors Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, or AGCM) stated the corporate’s “absolute dominant place” in app distribution allowed it to “unilaterally impose” the ATT guidelines on third-party app builders, with out consulting with them beforehand. The investigation was launched in Might 2023.
The AGCM stated it is not calling into query Apple’s determination to undertake safeguards designed to reinforce customers’ privateness on iOS, however reasonably it is taking concern with the consent necessities which might be excessively burdensome for builders and “disproportionate” to the acknowledged targets of ATT.
Particularly, this requires builders to serve each ATT- and GDPR-related permission prompts in apps for iPhone and iPad customers within the E.U. to hunt consumer permission earlier than processing their knowledge for personalised advertisements. In distinction, Apple’s personal apps and companies can acquire this permission in a single faucet.
“Particularly, third-party app builders are required to acquire particular consent for the gathering and linking of knowledge for promoting functions by way of Apple’s ATT immediate,” AGCM stated. “Nevertheless, such a immediate doesn’t meet privateness laws necessities, forcing builders to double the consent request for a similar goal.”
The authority additionally stated the double consent requirement that arises because of ATT harms third-party builders who depend on promoting, including, “Apple ought to have ensured the identical stage of privateness safety for customers by permitting builders to acquire consent to profiling in a single ‘Personalised Promoting’ immediate.
In a press release shared with Reuters, Apple stated it’ll enchantment the regulator’s determination and reiterated its dedication “to defend robust privateness protections.” It additionally stated the foundations apply equally to all builders, together with Apple.
Apple launched ATT in 2021 as a manner for cellular apps to hunt customers’ specific consent with a purpose to entry their system’s distinctive promoting identifier for monitoring them throughout apps and web sites for focused promoting.
This isn’t the primary time the privateness framework has run at odds with competitors authorities. Again in March 2025, the corporate was additionally fined €150 million ($162 million) by France’s competitors watchdog for utilizing ATT to leverage its dominant market place in cellular app promoting.
Apple can be going through comparable probes in Poland and Romania. Earlier this month, Germany’s antitrust authority stated it was testing Apple’s proposed adjustments to ATT, which included adjustments to the textual content and formatting of the consent immediate whereas sustaining “core consumer advantages.”
The corporate is alleged to have agreed to introduce impartial consent prompts for each its personal companies and third-party apps, along with simplifying the consent course of in order that builders can acquire consumer permission in a fashion that complies with knowledge safety legislation.
