Not so long since Apple was involved in an antitrust case involving video game developer Epic Games, with this news previously reported here on PVP Live, it is finding itself in another antitrust case, this time over Apple’s alleged abuse in the apps market.
Another antitrust case for Apple
Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), an antitrust regulator or watchdog in Italy, said yesterday it had launched an investigation and probe into the Cupertino-based tech giant for allegedly abusing a dominant position in the market for apps.
According to a press release published by the Italian antitrust watchdog, Apple may have positioned itself at an unfair advantage that favors it by implementing a stringent privacy policy for developers of third-party apps, particularly on the tracking of iOS users. These applications should agree to pop-ups for their advertisements.
AGCM also said it was also worried third-party developers and advertisers were in a not-so-favorable position about the data quality Apple made available.
This “alleged discriminatory conduct” can cause a decrease in third-party advertisers’ advertising revenues, and restrain competitors from taking part or remaining in the app development and distribution market, only to the benefit of Apple’s applications.
“According to the Authority, since April 2021, the Cupertino company has adopted, for third-party app developers, a more restrictive privacy policy than the one it applies to itself. In addition, third-party developers and advertisers would also be disadvantaged in terms of the quality of the data made available by Apple,” AGCM said in its press release, already translated to English.
These new rules from Apple were implemented around two years ago when the company introduced its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy. This was decried by several companies whose revenues were severely affected. Spearheading this was Meta Platforms, Inc., the parent company of Facebook, whose operations heavily rely on targeted advertising. Meta reportedly said it lost around $10 billion in revenue because of the policy.
“Starting from April 2021, Apple has adopted a privacy policy, for third-party app developers only, more restrictive than the one the company applies to itself,” the Italian antitrust regulator went on. “The different treatment is mainly based on the characteristics of the prompt that appears to users to acquire consent to the tracking of their ‘navigation’ data on the web and on the tools adopted to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.”
Apple responds
Apple has responded to this probe. The company emailed news outlets saying it implements its privacy rules “equally to all developers, including Apple.”
“We will continue to engage constructively with the AGCM to address any of their questions,” Apple further noted.
According to European Union’s competition law, companies found guilty of abuse of market dominance could be fined up to 10 percent of annual turnover.
The Cupertino-based technology company is among the various tech giants in the United States that European regulators have repeatedly scrutinized.
