France fines Apple $162 million over privacy control tool

France’s antitrust body has slapped a 150-million-euro ($162-million) fine on Apple for abusing its position in mobile app advertising on its devices via a privacy control tool, which has also come under the scrutiny in several European nations.

The competition watchdog. Autorité de la concurrence, said the way Apple implemented its app tracking transparency (ATT) software was “neither necessary nor proportionate to its stated goal to protect user data,” and also penalized third-party publishers.

Apple rolled out ATT in April 2021 as part of an update to the operating system running on iPhone and iPad.  The feature forces apps to obtain permission before collecting data to target users with personalized ads.

While the feature was designed to shore up privacy, it faced criticism that it would make it harder for smaller apps to survive without charging consumers.

The fine covers the period from April 2021 to July 2023, though the amount may be paltry for Apple, which reported earnings of $124 billion in the October-December period of last year.

In addition to the fine, Apple will have to publish the decision on its website for seven days.

Authorities in Germany, Poland, Italy, and Romania are conducting similar probes over ATT, which the iPhone maker promotes as a privacy safeguard.

“While we are disappointed with today’s decision, the French Competition Authority has not required any specific changes to ATT,” Apple said in a statement, while noting that consumers and privacy advocates supported this feature.

The antitrust body was probing allegation by digital advertising and mobile gaming firms that ATT made it more expensive and difficult for brands to advertise on Apple’s platforms.

The penalty is the latest move by a European regulator against a US tech giant, even after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs in response to such penalties on 2 February.

The competition watchdog’s decision manifests the ongoing scrutiny of major European tech firms under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to ensure fair competition.

The French regulator found that while ATT aims to protect user privacy, its implementation disproportionately impacted small businesses depending on third-party data for revenue.

The authority acknowledged that ATT’s intent was not problematic; however, it ruled that the implementation was “neither necessary nor proportionate” to Apple’s “stated goal of protecting personal data.”

The system’s design created an asymmetry as users had to opt out of tracking several times, undermining the feature’s neutrality and causing economic harm to app developers and advertising services, the antitrust body said.