Cybersecurity Policy Report, France Fines Apple Over Unfair Use of Privacy Protection System, (Apr 1, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Apple
France’s competition authority, Autorité de la Concurrence, has imposed a fine of 150 million euros ($162 million) on Apple, Inc., over its implementation of an app tracking transparency (ATT) system, the authority announced yesterday.
Relying on an opinion from the French data protection authority, the Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL), the authority found that Apple abused its dominant position in the mobile app distribution market to the detriment of third-party websites and apps.
The use of the ATT system by Apple has caused users to confront multiple data consent collection windows, complicating the use of third-party applications within the iOS environment, the authority said.
Rules governing the interaction between the different windows displayed in this way undermines the neutrality of the ATT system, causing economic prejudice to publishers and advertising service providers, it said.
Thus, the use of the ATT system as implemented by Apple penalized the smallest publishers, who depend largely on the collection of third-party data to finance their activity, the authority noted.
While the objective pursued by the ATT system is justifiable, it said, the implementation methods used by Apple are neither necessary nor proportionate to Apple’s stated objective or protecting personal data.
News: InternationalLegislation DataPrivacy