Apple fined $116M in Italy over ATT privacy feature in iOS – News

Italy’s competition regulator today issued a fine of €98.63 million, or about $116 million, to Apple Inc. over the ATT privacy feature in iOS.

The technology has also drawn antitrust scrutiny in other jurisdictions.

Many iOS apps collect data about their users to deliver personalized ads. In some cases, apps combine their first-party data with user information from third-party services. That data blending process is carried with the help of an identifier such as IDFA, a unique string of characters Apple assigns to each iOS device. The data points that apps collect about a user are linked to the identifier. 

ATT, the iOS feature at the center of today’s antitrust decision, enables users to block data blending. When the setting is enabled, an app can’t use information from third-party apps to deliver ads. Developers may only access such information if consumers specifically agree to the practice via a consent banner.

Italy’s antitrust regulator, the AGCM, fined Apple after finding ATT to be anticompetitive. The decision is the fruit of a more than two-year investigation. The AGCM carried out the probe in collaboration with several other antitrust bodies in the European Union and Italy’s privacy regulator.

Officials took issue with the fact that the ATT consent banner through which users can authorize third-party data blending doesn’t comply with Italian privacy rules. As a result, iOS developers have to display a second consent banner that does comply with those rules. The AGCM determined that the requirement to display two such requests is overly burdensome for developers. 

“The restrictions imposed by the ATT policy on the collection, linking and use of such data are capable of harming developers whose business model relies on the sale of advertising space, as well as advertisers and advertising intermediation platforms,” officials wrote in an explainer that accompanied today’s antitrust decision. “This impact is even more pronounced for smaller operators.”

Officials also identified other issues in Apple’s privacy practices. According to the AGCM, the company could have delivered the level of privacy provided by ATT in a more developer-friendly manner. Additionally, the regulator determined that the company rolled out ATT without first consulting the affected developers.

“Moreover, the ATT rules appear capable of generating financial benefits for Apple itself, directly in the form of higher commissions collected from developers through the App Store and, indirectly, in terms of the growth of its own advertising service,” officials added.

Today’s decision comes less than a year after French regulators fined Apple €150 million over ATT. The company is appealing both penalties. Separately, it’s reportedly working on a modified version of ATT designed to comply with antitrust rules in Germany, where the feature has also drawn regulatory scrutiny. 

Photo: Pixabay