Apple hit with $162 million French antitrust fine over privacy tool

Apple has been fined €150 million ($162.4 million) by French antitrust regulators for abusing its market dominance in mobile app advertising through its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) tool.

This is the first antitrust fine related to ATT and follows a €1.8 billion EU fine last year for restricting competition in music streaming on the App Store.

The ATT tool allows iPhone and iPad users to control app tracking, but advertisers and publishers argue it makes advertising more difficult and disproportionately harms smaller publishers.

Apple said it was disappointed but noted the regulator did not mandate any specific changes to ATT. The company is awaiting rulings from Germany, Italy, Poland, and Romania, which are also investigating ATT.

French regulators ruled that while ATT’s goal of protecting user privacy was valid, its implementation was neither necessary nor proportionate, giving Apple an unfair advantage. Advertising industry groups that filed complaints hailed the ruling as a major victory.

Source – CGTN