France’s Antitrust Authority Fines Apple €150M for App Tracking Transparency Issues

TL;DR

France’s Autorité de la concurrence has fined Apple €150 million for abusing its dominance in App Tracking Transparency (ATT) consent practices on iOS and iPadOS. The authority found that Apple’s implementation of ATT was disproportionate and harmed competition, particularly affecting smaller publishers and app developers.

Main Content

France Fines Apple €150M for Abusing Dominance in ATT Consent Practices

France’s Autorité de la concurrence has imposed a €150 million fine on Apple for abusing its market dominance in App Tracking Transparency (ATT) consent practices on iOS and iPadOS between April 26, 2021, and July 25, 2023.

Apple introduced ATT with iOS 14.5, requiring apps to obtain user consent to access the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) for tracking and targeted ads. The IDFA is a unique, random identifier assigned by Apple to a user’s device, allowing advertisers to track user activity across apps and websites while maintaining user anonymity. Users can reset or disable IDFA through their privacy settings.

The French authority found that while Apple’s ATT framework aims to protect user privacy, its implementation was unnecessary and disproportionate. The framework caused excessive pop-ups, complicating the use of third-party apps and lacking neutrality. This implementation harmed smaller publishers reliant on third-party data, leading to economic disadvantages for app developers and ad service providers ¹.

Apple’s ATT framework, intended for privacy protection, was found to unfairly disadvantage third-party apps by making their use overly complex and favoring Apple’s own services. The Autorité ruled that ATT’s implementation distorted competition, particularly harming smaller publishers reliant on ad revenue. Apple also imposed stricter consent rules on others while benefiting from a simpler process for its own data collection. The framework’s asymmetry, where Apple required double consent from third-party apps but not itself, led to regulatory penalties. The Autorité considered these rules unnecessary, as they harmed competition and made third-party apps more difficult to use without valid reasoning.

The head of the French Competition Authority, Benoit Coeure, dismissed concerns that the decision would prompt retaliation from U.S. authorities. He emphasized that the authority applies competition law in an apolitical manner and that both the U.S. and Europe share similar views on antitrust enforcement ².

Apple expressed disappointment with the decision, noting that the French Competition Authority did not mandate any specific changes to the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework ³.

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Conclusion

The fine imposed on Apple by France’s Autorité de la concurrence highlights the ongoing challenges in balancing privacy protection with fair competition in the digital advertising ecosystem. As regulatory scrutiny intensifies, tech giants like Apple will need to ensure their privacy measures do not inadvertently disadvantage smaller players in the market.

References

1. France’s Autorité de la concurrence (2025). “Targeted advertising: Autorité de la concurrence imposes fine of EU150,000,000 on Apple”. Retrieved 2025-04-01. ↩︎

2. Reuters (2025). “French antitrust regulator fines Apple 150 million euros over privacy tool”. Retrieved 2025-04-01. ↩︎

3. Reuters (2025). “Statement issued by Apple”. Retrieved 2025-04-01 ↩︎