French antitrust regulators have fined Apple 150 million euros ($162 million) for its application tracking transparency (ATT) feature, which is facing scrutiny in multiple European countries. The French Competition Authority ruled that Apple’s implementation of ATT was “neither necessary nor in line with the company’s stated goal of protecting user data” and was not fairly punished by third-party publishers.
In addition to the fine, Apple was ordered to publish the decision on its website for 7 days. The ruling was conducted in an ongoing investigation in Germany, Italy, Romania and Poland, and Apple was presented as a privacy guarantee in 2021.
ATT requires the application to obtain explicit user consent through pop-ups before tracking activity on other applications and websites. If the user goes down, the app loses access to its ad identifier, limiting targeted ads. Critics argue that the system benefits Apple disproportionately by limiting competitors while promoting its own advertising services.
French regulators found that ATT forced users to browse too many consent windows for third-party apps on their iPhones and iPads, making the process unnecessary complicated. Additionally, Apple’s system requires users to opt out of ad tracking twice instead of once, which authorities say undermines the neutrality of the feature and causes financial harm to app publishers and advertising service providers.
The ruling stressed that smaller publishers relied heavily on revenue from third-party data collection and were particularly affected. French regulators initially refused to take urgent measures in 2021 after complaints from the advertising industry, but continued to investigate, which eventually led to Monday’s decision.
