Apple has been penalized with a hefty fine of 150 million euros or $162.4 million by French antitrust regulators, Reuters news report said.
The penalty, imposed on Monday, stems from allegations that Apple abused its dominant market position in mobile app advertising through its privacy control tool, App Tracking Transparency (ATT). This marks the first instance of any antitrust regulator fining Apple over the ATT tool.
This latest sanction comes just a year after the European Union levied a separate 1.8 billion euro fine against Apple for allegedly obstructing competition in music streaming services through its App Store policies.
The case against Apple in France specifically scrutinized its actions between 2021 and 2023. Several associations representing online advertisers, publishers, and internet networks had lodged complaints against the company, asserting that its practices unfairly hindered competition.
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) Tool
The ATT tool, introduced by Apple in 2021, allows iPhone and iPad users to control which apps can track their activity across different platforms. While Apple touts ATT as a major advancement in user privacy, critics — primarily digital advertisers and mobile gaming companies — argue that it disproportionately raises the cost of advertising and makes it more challenging for brands to reach their target audiences on Apple devices.
Apple introduced the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework in April 2021 with iOS 14.5, requiring user consent for third-party apps to collect data for targeted advertising. This framework, which displays a standardized pop-up for consent, restricts access to the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) unless users opt in.
Anticipating ATT’s impact, various online advertising associations filed a complaint with the French competition authority in October 2020, arguing that it harmed ad-funded businesses, particularly smaller publishers. While ATT affects all app publishers, larger companies like Meta and Google, with their own data ecosystems, remain less reliant on IDFA and have maintained their advertising capabilities.
The French Competition Authority ruled that although ATT’s goal of enhancing user privacy is not inherently problematic, its implementation is excessive and disproportionately affects third-party advertisers, particularly smaller publishers. These businesses heavily rely on third-party data collection to generate revenue and fund their operations. The ruling concluded that Apple’s practices stifled competition, thereby harming the digital advertising ecosystem.
In response to the fine, Apple expressed its disappointment but emphasized that the ruling does not mandate any specific changes to the ATT tool. In a statement, the company said: “While we are disappointed with today’s decision, the French Competition Authority has not required any specific changes to ATT.”
Benoit Cœure, head of the French Competition Authority, said Apple must now ensure compliance with the ruling. But it has not given explicit instructions to Apple on modifying ATT. Compliance measures may take time, as Apple awaits rulings from regulators in Germany, Italy, Poland, and Romania, who are also investigating the ATT tool.
The case has also sparked discussions about potential repercussions from the U.S. government. US President Donald Trump had previously threatened to impose penalties on EU countries that fined American tech companies. However, Cœure dismissed such concerns, stating that antitrust laws in both the U.S. and the EU are applied consistently and independently of political influence.
“We apply competition law in an apolitical manner,” Cœure stated at a press conference. “But what we have heard… is that they (U.S. authorities) intend to apply antitrust law to the big digital platforms as strictly as their predecessors. So in terms of antitrust, I don’t see any controversy between the United States and Europe on how we apply the law.”
Organizations that initially brought the complaints against Apple, including Alliance Digitale, the Syndicat des Regies Internet (SRI), the Union des Entreprises de Conseil et d’Achat Media (Udecam), and the Groupement des Editeurs de Services en Ligne, welcomed the ruling as a significant victory for advertisers.
As Apple navigates compliance with the French ruling, industry experts anticipate ongoing scrutiny from regulators worldwide regarding the company’s data policies and competition practices. The outcome of similar investigations in other European nations could further shape the regulatory landscape for digital advertising and privacy control tools in the future.
With regulators across multiple jurisdictions intensifying their oversight of major tech firms, Apple’s handling of these antitrust challenges will likely set a precedent for how privacy tools and competition laws interact in the evolving digital economy.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
