Overview
- Associations representing publishers, media agencies and the German Association of the Branded Goods Industry urged the watchdog to reject Apple’s proposals, halt the App Tracking Transparency tool and impose a fine.
- The groups said the commitments would not remedy competitive harms and argued Apple would remain the advertising data gatekeeper, citing limits on who can access user data and how firms reach customers.
- Apple’s December offer included neutral consent prompts for its own services and third‑party apps, aligned wording and visuals, and a simplified permission flow for advertising‑related data processing.
- Germany’s competition authority charged Apple last February over App Tracking Transparency and sought industry feedback three months ago; it has not yet announced a final decision.
- Apple maintains the feature is a user‑privacy control and has said it will continue to defend it, while potential penalties for antitrust breaches in Germany can reach 10% of annual turnover.