Italy Fines Apple €98.6 Million Over App Store Practices

Italy’s competition watchdog has fined US technology giant Apple €98.6 million (about $115 million) for breaching European competition rules, according to Reuters.

In a statement released on Monday, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) said the fine was imposed on Apple and two of its affiliated units for abusing their dominant position in the mobile app market.

The regulator alleged that Apple used its “full dominance” over the App Store to unilaterally impose stricter privacy policies on third-party app developers when conducting transactions through the platform.

Under Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, introduced in April 2021, third-party developers are required to obtain separate user consent to collect and link data for advertising purposes. However, the regulator noted that the same requirements do not apply to Apple’s own services.

According to AGCM, the policy runs counter to the interests of Apple’s partners and is disproportionate to the company’s stated objective of protecting user privacy. The authority also described the obligation to seek user consent multiple times for the same purpose as irregular and unjustified.

The investigation, launched in May 2023, was carried out in coordination with the European Commission and other international competition regulators.

Apple did not immediately comment on the fine.

DBTech/BMT/OR