France's antitrust watchdog fines Apple €150 million over privacy tool abuse

Penalty stems from abuses of ATT feature

The investigation followed complaints about ATT feature from multiple associations representing online advertisers, publishers, and internet networks

Apple has been hit with a €150 million ($162.42 million) fine by the French competition authority for abusing its dominant position in the mobile app advertising market between 2021 and 2023.

The penalty stems from alleged abuses related to Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature on iOS devices, a tool designed to enhance user privacy.

The French watchdog's decision, announced on Monday, marks the first antitrust fine against Apple concerning its ATT feature. This tool allows iPhone and iPad users to control which apps can track their activity, a move lauded by privacy advocates but heavily criticised by advertisers and rival companies reliant on online advertising revenue.

The investigation was initiated following complaints from multiple associations representing online advertisers, publishers, and internet networks. They accused Apple of leveraging its market power to unfairly disadvantage competitors.

The French regulator said that while the objective of ATT-protecting user privacy-is not inherently objectionable, its implementation is problematic.

"As part of its investigation into the merits of the case, the Autorité found that while the objective of the App Tracking Transparency ("ATT") framework is not at its core problematic, how ATT is implemented is neither necessary for nor proportionate with Apple's stated objective of protecting personal data."

The authority further said that ATT "particularly penalized smaller publishers," who heavily depend on third-party data collection to sustain their business models.

The investigation found that the rollout of ATT resulted in an influx of consent pop-ups from third-party apps, bombarding users with complex choices and making it "excessively complex" to navigate the iOS environment.

Despite the significant fine, the French competition watchdog did not mandate any specific alterations to Apple's ATT tool. However, they have ordered Apple to publish the decision on its website for seven days, ensuring transparency.

Apple expressed disappointment with the ruling, noting that the regulator did not require any modifications to its privacy control tool.

The company said that ATT empowers users with greater privacy control "through a required, clear, and easy-to-understand prompt about one thing: tracking."

"That prompt is consistent for all developers, including Apple, and we have received strong support for this feature from consumers, privacy advocates, and data protection authorities around the world. While we are disappointed with today's decision, the French Competition Authority (FCA) has not required any specific changes to ATT," it added.

The €150 million fine covers the period from April 2021, when ATT was first introduced, to July 2023. However, the fine is a relatively minor penalty for Apple, which reported $124 billion in revenue in the final three months of 2024 alone.

The fine is also considerably smaller than the €1.8 billion penalty imposed by the EU competition enforcer last year, which addressed Apple's anti-competitive practices in the music streaming market, a case triggered by a complaint from Spotify.

Apple's ATT is also under scrutiny by the German antitrust agency, which in February accused the company of granting itself preferential treatment.