France antitrust watchdog fines Apple $162M for violating privacy laws – JURIST
The French competition regulator, Autorité de la concurrence, fined Apple on Monday $162 million over its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) tool. The regulator found that the ATT framework was unnecessarily complex and biased, violating France’s and EU’s privacy laws.
The agency fined Apple because the consent required by ATT is burdensome for users, violating the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the French Data Protection Act. The GDPR applies to any companies operating and selling their products or services within the EU. To fulfill Apple’s legal obligation under the governing provisions, a second consent pop-up is required. However, multiple pop-ups overly complicate app use.
Apple’s ATT also violated the recommendations issued by the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) regarding neutrality. The agency found an asymmetry in how Apple treated itself versus how publishers were treated.
In fining Apple, the Autorité took into account the duration of the infringement (between April 2021 and July 2023) and Apple’s economic power. France’s action against Apple could be the first of many against the company by EU countries, as this decision comes soon after the European Commission charged Apple with two violations of the Digital Markets Act earlier in March. Ensuring ATT’s compliance with the GDPR is one way Apple may be able to prevent further sanctions.
Complications with ATT began in 2020, before the framework even went live. Several organizations filed complaints with the Autorité in anticipation. The groups requested investigative measures as it was a barrier to targeted advertising, a key revenue stream for app publishers and other online advertising entities. In its ruling on March 17, 2021, the Autorité chose not to implement interim measures but stated that the investigation into the merits of the case would proceed. In 2023, CNIL and the Autorité issued a joint declaration addressing the balance of competition law with data privacy in the digital economy.
ATT was released in April 2021 on IOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5. It requests permission through a pop-up before tracking users’ activity across companies’ apps and websites. Tracking happens when information that identifies users or users’ devices, collected from an app, is connected with similar identifying information gathered from other sources for targeted advertising or ad measurements. Information that is collected can also be shared with data brokers.
