Apple fined $116 million over app privacy prompts

Apple has been fined more than €98 million (about $116 million) by Italy’s antitrust regulator over the “excessively burdensome” privacy rules it imposes on third-party apps. The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) says that Apple abused its dominant app store market position by burdening developers with “disproportionate” terms around data collection that exceed privacy law requirements, compared to rules for native iOS apps.

The fine specifically targets the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy Apple launched in 2021, which requires third-party developers to ask users for consent twice to track their data across other apps and websites. Apple’s own apps can obtain this permission in a single tap. AGCM says that the burden of consenting twice led to a reduction in user consent rates for advertising profiling, thus harming developers whose business models depend upon revenue generated by personalized ads.

“The Authority established that the terms of the ATT policy are imposed unilaterally and harm the interests of Apple’s commercial partners,” the AGCM said in its announcement. ”The double consent request renders the ATT policy disproportionate, since Apple should have ensured the same level of privacy protection for users by allowing developers to obtain consent to profiling in a single step.”

This follows the Cupertino company being fined $162.4 million by France’s competition watchdog in March over similar concerns with Apple’s ATT system. Apple said in a statement to Reuters that it “strongly disagrees” with the AGCM and will appeal the decision, pushing its commitment “to defend strong privacy protections.”