Italian Watchdog Fines Apple €98 Million

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has imposed a €98.6 million fine on Apple for abusing a dominant position. The body stated that the US-based company Apple breached regulations in the market for the supply to developers of platforms for the online distribution of apps.

After an investigation, AGCM concluded that Apple holds a super-dominant position in the Italian Market through its App Store. The authority conducted a complex investigation in coordination with the European Commission, other national competition authorities, and the Italian Data Protection Authority. Its findings confirmed the restrictive nature of Apple's privacy rules for iOS devices on third-party developers of apps distributed through the App Store.

In particular, third-party app developers are required to obtain specific consent for the collection and linking of data for advertising purposes through Apple’s ATT prompt. However, such a prompt does not meet privacy legislation requirements, forcing developers to double the consent request for the same purpose. AGCM established that the terms of the ATT policy are imposed unilaterally and harm the interests of Apple’s commercial partners. The double consent requirement is harmful to developers, whose business model relies on the sale of advertising space, as well as to advertisers and advertising intermediation platforms.