Italy fines Apple $116M for App Store privacy violations
What's the story
Italy's competition authority, the AGCM, has slapped a €98.6 million (roughly $116 million) fine on Apple and two of its divisions. The penalty is over allegations of abusing their dominant position in the mobile app market through privacy violations on the App Store. The regulator claims that Apple has an "absolute dominance" in dealing with third-party developers on its platform.
Investigation details
Allegations of penalizing 3rd-party developers
The AGCM's investigation into Apple began in May 2023, after claims that the tech giant had penalized third-party app developers by imposing a "more restrictive privacy policy" on them from April 2021. The regulator alleged that Apple required these developers to obtain specific consent for data collection and linking data for advertising purposes through its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompt.
Policy scrutiny
AGCM challenges Apple's ATT policy
The AGCM has challenged Apple's ATT policy, saying its terms are imposed unilaterally and are detrimental to the interests of Apple's business partners. The regulator also said these terms aren't proportionate to achieving privacy objectives as claimed by Apple. It further alleged that developers were forced to duplicate consent requests for the same purpose, which violates privacy regulations.
Global cooperation
AGCM's investigation involved international collaboration
The AGCM has said that its investigation was complex and conducted in coordination with the European Commission and other international competition antitrust regulators. This highlights the global nature of the probe into Apple's practices on its App Store platform. Despite the fine, Apple has yet to comment on the matter.