""Intense lobbying efforts in Germany, Italy and other countries in Europe may force us to withdraw this feature to the detriment of European consumers," Apple said in a statement to DPA. Apple is referring to App Tracking Transparency (ATT), a feature that lets iPhone and iPad users decide whether to allow apps to track their activity across other apps and websites for advertising purposes. Users can choose to allow apps to ask for permission, or turn off tracking entirely."
"The anti-tracking features were implemented in Apple's iOS 14 updates. ATT prevents apps from accessing the advertising identifier of an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV without express permission, so apps can't track what users do on their devices and then use the information gleaned for ad targeting. ATT has been unsurprisingly unpopular with advertisers and data brokers. Facebook rallied hard against App Tracking Transparency ahead of when it rolled out, positioning Apple as an enemy of small businesses and taking out multiple full-page newspaper ads."
"Germany launched a probe into App Tracking Transparency back in 2022, and in February 2025, Germany's Federal Cartel Office preliminarily ruled that Apple abused its market power with ATT, giving itself preferential treatment, even though Apple says it does not collect data from third-party apps. The cartel said that Apple's restrictions made it "far more difficult" for app publishers to access user data relevant for advertising."
Apple warned that intense lobbying and regulatory pressure in several European countries could force the company to withdraw App Tracking Transparency (ATT) in the EU, potentially reducing consumer privacy protections. ATT allows iPhone and iPad users to decide whether apps can track activity across apps and websites and prevents apps from accessing device advertising identifiers without express permission. The feature drew opposition from advertisers and data brokers, with major campaigns against it. Germany preliminarily ruled Apple abused market power over ATT, France fined Apple €150 million for complicating opt-outs, and Italy is conducting a similar investigation.
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