Apple Fined $116 Million Over App Privacy Prompts

Apple has been fined $116 million by Italy's antitrust regulator over the 'excessively burdensome' privacy rules it imposes on third-party apps. From a report: The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) says that Apple abused its dominant app store market position by burdening developers with 'disproportionate' terms around data collection that exceed privacy law requirements, compared to rules for native iOS apps.

The fine specifically targets the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy Apple launched in 2021, which requires third-party developers to ask users for consent twice to track their data across other apps and websites. Apple's own apps can obtain this permission in a single tap. AGCM says that the burden of consenting twice led to a reduction in user consent rates for advertising profiling, thus harming developers whose business models depend upon revenue generated by personalized ads.

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