Apple has been under scrutiny in Germany for three years because of its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature. This feature lets iPhone users choose not to have their activities tracked across different apps.
The German competition authority, Bundeskartellamt, has now shared its initial thoughts, suggesting that Apple’s ATT rules might not be fair. They say that while third-party apps must follow these strict rules, Apple’s own apps do not have to.
In their latest statement, the Bundeskartellamt pointed out that since ATT was introduced in April 2021, app makers in the iOS App Store need special permission from users to use their data for ads. However, these same strict rules don’t apply to Apple’s apps.
According to the Bundeskartellamt, this could be against German competition laws for big tech companies and even broader European Union competition rules. They argue that Apple is applying different privacy standards to itself compared to other app developers.
Apple has now been allowed to reply to these concerns raised by the German authority.
Interestingly, while ATT was initially seen as a headache for big advertising apps like those from Meta (formerly known as Facebook), it has turned out to be beneficial. Meta has managed to enhance its advertising strategies, using AI to target users more accurately without relying on broad third-party data tracking.
This situation in Germany highlights ongoing debates about how tech giants manage user data and privacy, setting a precedent for how privacy policies might be enforced in the future.