Italy Fines Apple €98 Million Over Alleged App Store Privacy Abuses
Critics say Apple uses ATT to benefit its own advertising services while restricting competitors.
Rome: Italy’s competition authority (AGCM) on Monday fined US tech giant Apple €98 million ($115 million), alleging the company abused its dominant position in the mobile app market.
The AGCM stated that Apple violated privacy regulations for third-party developers in a market where it “holds a super-dominant position through its App Store.” The investigation found that Apple’s privacy rules, particularly its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) system, were restrictive and imposed unilaterally, harming the interests of commercial partners.
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Apple introduced ATT in 2021, requiring apps to obtain user consent via a pop-up before tracking activity across other apps and websites. If users decline, apps lose access to data critical for targeted advertising. Critics say Apple uses ATT to benefit its own advertising services while restricting competitors.
Earlier this year, French antitrust authorities fined Apple €150 million over the same privacy feature, and regulators across Europe have launched similar investigations into ATT, which Apple promotes as a user privacy safeguard.
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