Apple has lost an appeal against a regulatory assessment that opens the tech giant up to stricter controls in Germany, reports Reuters.
The Federal Court of Justice backed the German cartel office’s 2023 designation of Apple as a “company of paramount cross-market significance for competition.” Apple said it faced tough competition in Germany and that it disagreed with the court’s decision.
Last month the Bundeskartellamt antitrust group in Germany issued its “preliminary legal assessment” that alleges Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature only applying to third-party apps and not Apple violates antitrust policy.
Apple introduced the App Tracking Transparency Framework for third-party apps with its updates iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5 and tvOS 14.5 in April 2021. ATT allows you to choose whether an app can track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites for the purposes of advertising or sharing with data brokers. Starting with iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5, apps must ask for permission before tracking your activity across other companies’ apps and websites.
Tracking occurs when information that identifies you or your device collected from an app is linked with information that identifies you or your device collected on apps, websites and other locations owned by third parties for the purposes of targeted advertising or advertising measurement, or when the information collected is shared with data brokers.
Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today