French Antitrust Authority Blocks Apple For Using User Data For Advertising Purposes

JAKARTA - On Tuesday, July 25, France's antitrust supervisory agency stated it had issued an objected statement against Apple, citing concerns that the US technology company may have used "discriminatory and opaque conditions" in using user data for advertising purposes on the iPhone.

The statement sparked an appropriate antitrust procedure in which the company will be able to express its views, the supervisory agency said.

Four French online advertising industry groups filed antitrust complaints in 2020 against Apple over changes the company made to privacy features when it began asking iPhone owners if they were ready to allow apps to collect data used to determine and send targeted ads.

"The mechanism gives users more control by requiring all apps to ask for permission before tracking them," Apple said in an emailed statement, adding that the company would "continue to interact constructively" with France's antitrust regulator.

The four associations - IAB France, MMAF, SRI, and UDECAM - say that the changes brought by Apple do not comply with EU privacy rules, which Apple denies.

The feature causes a decrease in income for publishers, the industry lobby groups said.