France’s competition authority has dismissed a request to suspend new privacy features developed by Apple for the iOS 14 operating system. It said that there was no evidence at this stage that the privacy changes amounted to an abuse of dominant position on the part of the device maker. The ruling follows a complaint brought to the watchdog by a number of internet advertising associations in October 2020. Apple was 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 watchdog explained that the case centres on the introduction of App Tracking Transparency (ATT), which requires an app to receive users’ consent before sharing their data with other companies for advertising purposes. In practice, this will mean that an app developer will need to display a permission pop-up in order to track users or access their device’s advertising identifier, known as the IDFA.
The investigation into the merits of the case will continue, as the watchdog wants to ensure that ATT cannot lead to discrimination or "self-preferencing" on Apple's part.
Apple welcomed the rejection of any immediate measures against ATT and said that its introduction is in the best interest of French iOS users.
