Apple will modify its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework to address concerns that it unfairly favored the company’s own apps over third-party developers, Germany’s competition authority announced on Monday.
The Federal Cartel Office in Düsseldorf said it has closed a years-long investigation after Apple committed to changes in how consent prompts for personal data use in targeted advertising appear on iPhones and iPads. The regulator found that Apple’s existing system provided more favorable consent screens for its own apps compared with those of external developers, raising potential competition law issues.
Under the agreed commitments, Apple must redesign third-party consent pop-ups to eliminate discouraging language and symbols, making them visually and linguistically neutral. Third-party developers will also gain greater flexibility to combine Apple’s required tracking consent request with their own separate data-protection prompts.
Apple has four months to implement the changes once the formal decision is served. The commitments will remain in force for seven years and will be overseen by an independent trustee. The company stated that the revisions will apply in almost all European Union countries and that it adjusted the text and design of the prompts at the German authority’s request.
The ATT framework requires apps to seek user permission before tracking activity across other companies’ apps and websites for advertising purposes. Third-party developers, including Meta Platforms, have long argued that accurate user data enables more effective targeted ads, which generate higher revenue than broader campaigns.
France and Italy previously imposed fines of €150 million and €98.6 million, respectively, related to the same framework.
MacDailyNews Take: Regardless of wording, smart German users still won’t allow apps to track across third-party apps and websites.
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