France’s antitrust watchdog, the French Competition Authority (FCA), on Monday, March 31, fined €150 million or ₹1,388 crore to the US-based iPhone maker Apple Inc. over an alleged abuse of its market dominance in the distribution of mobile applications for iOS and iPads between April 2021, and July 2023, reported the news agency AP.
The competition regulator said that they found Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT), a system which asks users for permission to track them, was not open to criticism.
The “way in which it was implemented was neither necessary nor proportionate to Apple’s stated objective of protecting personal data,” said the antitrust regulator cited in the agency report.
The ATT framework technology mandates iPhone or iPad users to provide consent to data collection by third-party applications in a system which is operated by Apple. The company aims to be better at protecting privacy and displaying a window in a partially standardized format.
The FCA, questioning the system’s neutrality, also flagged that the framework led to a high number of consent windows, which are making it difficult for third-party applications to navigate the iOS environment, and that it is allegedly penalising small publishers who depend on collection of third-party data to finance their activity.
Apple’s response
According to the agency report, the iPhone maker said that the ATT framework system gives its users more control over their privacy. This privacy comes “through a required, clear, and easy-to-understand prompt about one thing: tracking,” said Apple.
The company announced its disappointment in today’s decision from the FCA, and also highlighted that the regulator has not asked for any specific changed in the framework of the ATT.
“While we are disappointed with today’s decision, the French Competition Authority (FCA) has not required any specific changes to ATT,” said the iPhone maker cited in the agency report.
Apple said that the tracking prompt is consistent for “all developers”, including that of the firm, and also added that they have received strong support for this feature from consumers, privacy advocates, and data protection authorities from around the world.
Authority Scrutiny
Apple has been dealing with regulators all around the world. As per Bloomberg’s report on March 14, 2025, officials from the United Kingdom have held a private discussion with their US counterparts attempting to resolve concerns that Apple is trying to build a backdoor into Americans’ encrypted data.
“Clear and egregious violation of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties,” said Tulsi Gabbard, the US Director of National Intelligence raising concerns and an inquiry on the matter, as per the agency report.
On the Nasdaq Composite, Apple Inc’s stock was trading 0.89 per cent lower at $215.95 ahead of Monday’s Wall Street open at 5:45 a.m. (EDT), compared to $217.90 at the previous US market close.
