Apple Faces Polish Antitrust Probe Over App Tracking Transparency

Poland's antitrust regulator is investigating whether Apple is restricting contention successful the mobile ads marketplace done its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, reports Reuters.


Introduced successful April 2021 with the merchandise of iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5, Apple's ATT model requires that each apps connected ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ inquire for the user's consent earlier tracking their enactment crossed different apps. Apps that privation to way a idiosyncratic based connected their device's unsocial advertizing identifier tin lone bash truthful if the idiosyncratic allows it erstwhile prompted.

Apple said the diagnostic was designed to support users and not to vantage the company. It has been unsurprisingly unpopular with advertisers and information brokers.

Poland's anti-monopoly office, UOKiK, suspects that Apple's ATT model could beryllium favoring the company's ain ads work by limiting the quality of third-party apps to cod idiosyncratic information for personalized ads.
"We fishy that the ATT argumentation whitethorn person misled users astir the level of privateness extortion portion simultaneously expanding Apple’s competitory vantage implicit autarkic publishers," UOKiK President Tomasz Chrostny was quoted arsenic saying successful a statement. "Such practices whitethorn represent an maltreatment of ascendant position."If the regulator finds its suspicions to beryllium warranted, Apple could look a good of up to 10% of its yearly turnover successful Poland.

In an emailed connection to Reuters, Apple said:
"It is nary astonishment that the information tracking manufacture continues to reason our efforts to springiness users backmost power implicit their data, and present aggravated unit could unit america to retreat this feature, to the detriment of European consumers."

"We volition enactment with the Polish contention authorization to guarantee Apple tin proceed to connection users this invaluable privateness tool."Regulators successful Germany, Italy, and Romania person opened akin probes to analyse whether the privateness diagnostic violates contention rules by impeding entree to indispensable information for advertizing portion reinforcing Apple's ain presumption successful the integer advertisement market.

In March, Apple was fined €150 million ($162 million) by France's Competition Authority implicit the framework's implementation.
This article, "Apple Faces Polish Antitrust Probe Over App Tracking Transparency" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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