Did you know France Penalizes Apple with $162M Fine For Its ATT Privacy Model

 

iPhone maker Apple was just stuck with a mega $162 million fine by a leading French watchdog over the rollout of its ATT privacy framework.

The penalty comes for abusing its monopoly position as a top distributor of mobile apps in the region after launching the App Tracking Transparency model. As per the Autorité de la concurrence, the Cupertino firm rolled this out in 2021 and carried on for all iOS and iPadOS devices until 2023.

This feature forces mobile apps to get users’ explicit permission to access the phone’s unique ad identifier. Once that’s done, it can be tracked through different platforms and pages for the sake of targeted ads.

Until they get permission, the device cannot track the user, and no revenue is generated in terms of identifier value and targeting. However, once the permission is received, it’s a whole other game where the company will benefit at the users’ tracking cost.

App developers must also speak about the purpose behind why features like tracking are necessary, the French regulator shared. It’s not only about attaining consent.

They also shared how the ATT model is not the main or core issue here, but the fact that there’s no transparency about the matter for users is where the real problem lies. How this ATT gets implemented is not important or proportionate, as Apple shared its objectives for why it wants to protect users’ personal information.

Describing the ATT is mostly complex as the consent attained through such frameworks doesn’t meet the legal obligations needed under this law. It forces developers to use their own consent as solutions. This leads to several different consent pop-ups being put on display to all.

One issue is that consent tracking needs to be shown and confirmed by all users more than once, and also that refusal should only be a one-step process. This would make such models more neutral and acceptable.

Publishers were needed to attain double consent from people for tracking on third-party pages and apps. The iPhone maker didn’t ask for consent from people when it came down to its own apps. So this was another major loophole.

There was also a discussion about how double consent is needed when it comes to the collection of data. However, when it comes to collecting user consent for Apple’s own data collection, it’s only done once, which was called unfair.

It’s worth mentioning how this order doesn’t impose any kind of certain changes made to this framework. As per Reuters, it’s now the company that has to make sure that it’s complying with all the rulings. The fine is a major game changer for Apple, whose earnings hit $36B on a revenue of $124B in Q4 of last year.

A statement that was shared with AP, the company explained how the ATT model is the same for all developers. It has attained support for this feature from different consumers, authorities for data protection, and privacy advocates around the globe.