Italy’s competition authority has fined Apple €98.6 million ($116 million) for using the App Tracking Transparency privacy framework in a way the regulator says abused its dominant position in mobile app advertising. The framework, known as App Tracking Transparency (ATT), requires developers to request users’ consent before tracking them across other companies’ apps, sites and services; Apple introduced ATT in June 2020 and began enforcing it with iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 in April 2021.
The authority said in a Monday press release that its decision followed a two-year investigation and that Apple’s ATT policy requires third-party apps to display a standardised prompt requesting permission to track activity across other companies’ apps and websites.
According to the regulator, Apple’s own apps and services are exempt from the prompt, a setup that forces developers to seek consent twice because the ATT prompt does not satisfy GDPR consent requirements and developers must therefore present a separate mechanism. The regulator described the resulting double-consent process as “excessively burdensome” and linked its findings to a summary of the case the Italian antitrust agency explained.
Apple said it will appeal the decision and defended ATT as a tool to give users control over cross-app tracking, adding that the rules apply equally to all developers. The company said it disagrees with the AGCM finding and will continue to defend privacy protections. In April, France’s antitrust watchdog also fined Apple €150 million for use of the ATT framework.
Similar probes are ongoing in Poland, and Apple moved to change the ATT consent prompt at the German regulator’s request in early December, Reuters reported.