Italy Regulator Fines Apple $115 Million For Alleged App Store Privacy Violations

Italy's competition authority (AGCM) said on Monday it had fined U.S technology giant Apple and two of its divisions 98.6 million euros ($115.53 million) over alleged abuse of their dominant position in the mobile app market.

The regulator said the group allegedly violated European regulations with Apple's App Store, where it holds an "absolute dominance" in dealing with third-party developers.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The watchdog opened the probe into the technology giant in May 2023, claiming the company penalised third-party app developers by imposing "a more restrictive privacy policy" on them from April 2021.

AGCM said that Apple required third-party developers to obtain specific consent for data collection and linking data for advertising purposes through a screen imposed by Apple, known as the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompt.

"The terms of the ATT policy are imposed unilaterally, they are detrimental to the interests of Apple's business partners and are not proportionate to achieving the objective of privacy, as claimed by the company," the regulator said in a statement, adding the process does not comply with privacy regulations.

Developers were additionally forced to duplicate consent requests for the same purpose, it added.

The AGCM said that its investigation had been complex and carried out in coordination with the European Commission and other international competition antitrust regulators.

While Apple faces a fresh multi-million dollar fine in Italy, the tech giant is simultaneously locked in a high-stakes legal battle closer. Recently, Apple has moved the Delhi High Court to challenge India’s new antitrust penalty regulations, a move that could have massive financial implications for the company’s operations in the country.

The $38 Billion Threat

Under India's updated competition laws, Apple could potentially face a fine of up to $38 billion. This is because the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is now empowered to calculate penalties based on a company's global turnover, rather than just its domestic earnings, when dealing with cases of market dominance abuse.