Crystabel Ukwuegbu
French competition regulators have imposed a €150 million ($162 million) fine on Apple over its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature, which has also come under review in several other European nations.
According to the French Competition Authority, Apple’s implementation of ATT was deemed excessive and not entirely justified by its objective of safeguarding user data. The authority further noted that the system negatively impacted third-party publishers.
The investigation revealed that ATT resulted in an overwhelming number of consent prompts for third-party applications on iPhones and iPads, making the user experience unnecessarily complex. Additionally, Apple’s approach required users to disable ad tracking twice rather than once, which the regulator argued compromised the neutrality of the feature and financially harmed app developers and advertising platforms.
Smaller publishers, who rely significantly on third-party data collection for revenue, were found to be disproportionately affected by Apple’s tracking system.
The probe began following complaints from advertising industry stakeholders who argued that ATT restricted their ability to effectively target audiences. While the French watchdog initially opted against taking immediate action in 2021, the investigation continued, ultimately leading to this penalty.
Beyond the fine, Apple is required to publicly display the ruling on its website for a period of seven days.
Meanwhile, similar investigations into Apple’s ATT policy are underway in Germany, Italy, Romania, and Poland. The feature, introduced in 2021, mandates that apps obtain user permission via a pop-up notification before tracking their activity across various applications and websites.
