France: Apple may soon have to switch off app tracking protection
Since 2021, users of Apple products have had to explicitly authorise (advertising) tracking by apps. This will soon no longer be necessary in France.
Apple may have to switch off its transparent app tracking function in France. The background to the possible order is an investigation by the French antitrust authority into Apple's App Tracking Transparency Framework (ATTF). Apple introduced this in 2021. It forces app suppliers to obtain consent from their users before they are allowed to collect and process their data or activities for advertising purposes.
Source: Apple
Apple says in a statement that this function is important for user privacy. A topic that is close to Apple's heart anyway. Critics, on the other hand, criticise the competitive disadvantage that this would put app suppliers at. The business model that allows an app to be offered free of charge is dependent on the collection and use of advertising. This cross-finances the development costs for the app. The declining revenue jeopardises the business model.
This is particularly contradictory as Apple does not set such high standards for itself. This high standard of data protection often does not apply to Apple's own apps. Apple collects user data in its ecosystem and via its apps, which it uses specifically for personalised advertising. For example, by placing apps in the App Store, which they design differently based on the respective user behaviour. This is a massive inequality of treatment.
French authority plans tough sanctions
Now it seems that the investigation by the French antitrust authority supports this impression. The authority accuses Apple of having created "discriminatory, non-objective and non-transparent conditions" for the use of user data. According to insiders, the French antitrust authority will communicate its decision to Apple this spring and ask the company to deactivate app tracking for French users. This is reported by the Reuters news agency, among others. The company may also face a hefty fine (up to ten per cent of the company's global turnover).
Apple does not agree with this, however. They see the protection of privacy as paramount. "We believe that user data belongs to users and they should decide for themselves whether to share it," they said in a statement. Apple also denies that app tracking is not used for Apple's own apps. However, this falls on deaf ears with the antitrust authorities. Corresponding investigations are also already underway in other EU countries, such as Germany and Italy.
Header image: Shutterstock
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I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.
