The French competition authority has received a complaint against Apple from a number of internet advertising associations, reports Digiday citing Nicolas Rieul, president of IAB France (Interactive Advertising Bureau). Apple has been accused of imposing unfair trading conditions on app developers, abusing its dominant position in the app space, and distorting competition in the app advertising market. The claims stem from the privacy changes that will affect apps on iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and tvOS 14 from next year.
In a statement, Apple defended its action saying that its motivation was to protect the privacy of customers. The planned overhaul will provide users with “the choice whether or not they want to allow apps to track them, by linking their information with data from third parties for the purpose of advertising, or sharing their information with data brokers.”
IAB France has teamed up with several other local organisations to submit the complaint. These includes trade bodies SRI (Syndicat desRegies Internet) and Udecam (Union Des Entreprises de Conseil et Achat Média), as well as MMA France (Mobile Marketing Association).
In July, IAB France had addressed a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook detailing concerns about the planned privacy changes and seeking further dialogue. Under the new process, an app will be required to display a permission pop-up in order to track users or access their device’s advertising identifier, known as the IDFA.
