Apple Hit With $162 Million French Antitrust Fine Over Privacy Tool 452763 Technology News

The fine is the first by any antitrust regulator over Apple's App Tracking Transparency tool. 4j53

By Reuters | Updated: 1 April 2025 13:50 IST

Apple Hit With $162 Million French Antitrust Fine Over Privacy Tool

Photo Credit: Pexels/ Mateusz Taciak 6lw2b

The ATT tool lets iPhone and iPad s decide which apps can track their activity

Highlights

Apple's ATT tool is also being probed in , Italy, Romania
The ATT tool lets iPhone, iPad s decide which apps track activity
Apple was hit by an antitrust fine in the EU last year

ment

Apple was hit with a EUR 150 million ($162.4 million or roughly Rs. 1,389 crore) fine by French antitrust regulators on Monday for abusing its dominant position in mobile app advertising on its devices via a privacy control tool.

The fine - the first by any antitrust regulator over App Store.

The head of the French Competition Authority dismissed worries that the decision would prompt retaliation from US President Donald Trump who has threatened to slap fines on EU countries fining US companies.

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"We apply competition law in an apolitical manner," Benoit Coeure told a press conference.

"But what we have heard ... is that they (US authorities) intend to apply antitrust law to the big digital platforms as strictly as their predecessors. So in of antitrust, I don't see any controversy between the United States and Europe on how we apply the law," he said.

The ATT tool lets Apple's platforms.

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"While we are disappointed with today's decision, the French Competition Authority has not required any specific changes to ATT," Apple said in a statement.

Coeuré told reporters the regulator had not spelled out how Apple should change its app, but that it was up to the company to make sure it now complied with the ruling.

The compliance process could take some time, he added, because Apple was waiting for rulings on regulators in , Italy, Poland and Romania who are also investigating the ATT tool. The French case, which covered the period 2021 to 2023, was triggered by complaints from several associations for online rs, publishers and internet networks accusing Apple of abusing its market power.

"While the objective pursued by ATT is not in itself open to criticism, the way it is implemented is neither necessary nor proportionate to Apple's stated objective of protecting personal data," the regulator said in a statement.

It added that the privacy tool "particularly penalised smaller publishers," as they depend to a large extent on the collection of third-party data to fund their businesses.

Alliance Digitale, the Syndicat des Regies Internet (SRI), the Union des Entreprises de Conseil et d'Achat Média (Udecam) and the Groupement des Éditeurs de Services en Ligne, which had complained to the French watchdog, said the decision was a significant victory for rs.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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