BERLIN: The German antitrust authority has charged Apple with abusing its market power through its app tracking tool and giving itself preferential treatment in a move that could result in daily fines for the iPhone maker if it fails to change its business practices.
The move follows a three-year investigation by the Federal Cartel Office into Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature, which allows users to block advertisers from tracking them across different applications.
The US tech giant has said the feature allows users to control their privacy but has drawn criticism from Meta Platforms, app developers and startups whose business models rely on advertising tracking.
“The ATTF (app tracking tool) makes it far more difficult for competing app publishers to access the user data relevant for advertising,” Andreas Mundt, cartel office president, said in a statement.
Apple defended the feature in an emailed statement to media, adding that it “holds itself to a higher standard than it requires of any third-party developer.” –Agencies
