Apple’s nightmare with lawsuits and hefty fines won’t end anytime soon. The tech giant recently decided to comply with DMA rules to avoid an EU fine over browser choice for iPhones. Now, the company has received a fine in France over a privacy tool. Today, the French antitrust regulators hit Apple with a €150 million (∼$162.42 million) fine for abusing its power in the mobile app market through a privacy tool.
Apple receives a fine of €150 million over an iOS privacy tool
Apple’s privacy tool that attracted a €150 million fine is App Tracking Transparency (ATT). This privacy tool requires apps to ask users for permission to track their activities across third-party apps and websites. The main aim of introducing this tool was to give users more control over their data.
Ever since the tech giant introduced the tool, online advertisers, publishers, and rivals have openly criticized it, accusing the company of abusing its position in the market. In a statement, the French antitrust regulator said, “While the objective pursued by ATT is not in itself open to criticism, the way it is implemented is neither necessary nor proportionate to Apple’s stated objective of protecting personal data.”
Since the watchdogs don’t have an issue with the tool itself, Apple could be allowed to keep it around. However, in order to avoid the fine, the company will need to change how it’s used. What will Apple need to change? Well, the French antitrust regulators didn’t say.
The company has a 7-day deadline to announce its decision
The competition watchdog has given Apple a deadline of seven days to communicate its decision. This ruling comes just over a month after Apple faced a privacy lawsuit in France for collecting users’ Siri voice recordings. The lawsuit further accused the company of using such data to promote its in-house advertising business.
Apple, speaking about the €150 million fine, in a statement, said, “While we are disappointed with today’s decision, the French Competition Authority has not required any specific changes to ATT.” It’s up to Apple how it wants to comply with the ruling. Therefore, it’ll be interesting to see what the company does next.
