German media and advertising groups urge Bundeskartellamt to fine Apple over revised App Tracking Transparency rules
The Facts
- Associations representing German publishers, advertisers and/or media agencies said Apple’s proposed changes to its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) rules do not resolve competition/antitrust concerns in the mobile advertising market.
- The groups urged Germany’s antitrust authority, the Bundeskartellamt, to impose a fine on Apple in connection with the ATT dispute.
- The Bundeskartellamt sought feedback from stakeholders on Apple’s proposed changes to its ATT tool roughly three months before the groups’ latest statement.
- Apple’s ATT framework prompts iPhone users when they first open an app to decide whether to allow tracking across other apps and websites for advertising purposes.
- The Bundeskartellamt has been examining Apple’s ATT framework since June 2022.
- Apple has said ATT is designed to let users control their privacy by allowing them to block advertisers from tracking them across different applications.
Context
What is Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature?
ATT is an iOS framework that requires apps to ask users for permission before tracking their activity across other companies’ apps and websites; users can deny that tracking when prompted, typically when opening an app for the first time. stuttgarter-nachric…,N-tv,stern.de
What are the German industry groups asking the Bundeskartellamt to do?
They are asking the Bundeskartellamt to reject Apple’s proposed ATT changes as insufficient to address competition concerns and to consider imposing a fine on Apple. Reuters,stern.de,Morningstar
Why is Germany’s antitrust authority involved in ATT?
The Bundeskartellamt has been reviewing ATT in an ongoing proceeding since June 2022, examining whether the framework raises competition issues even as it relates to user privacy. N-tv,stuttgarter-nachric…,Börse Online
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