Italy's antitrust regulator AGCM fined Apple 98.6 million euros, or about $115 million. The fine was imposed for alleged abuse of a dominant position in the mobile application market.
The agency claims that Apple violated European standards when it introduced a stricter privacy policy for third-party developers in April 2021. We are talking about the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature, which requires users to give explicit consent to collect data and use it for targeted advertising.
According to the regulator, these conditions are imposed unilaterally on developers. Such a policy, as stated by AGCM, does not comply with regulations on personal data protection and is harmful to the interests of Apple's business partners. Additionally, developers must duplicate consent requests for the same purposes.
Apple disagrees with the Italian government's decision. The company said it intends to appeal the fine, emphasizing that the ATT feature is designed to give users control over how their activity is tracked. The rules are the same for all developers, including Apple itself.
The AGCM investigation, which has been ongoing since May 2023, is complex and coordinated with the European Commission and other international competition authorities.
