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Poland Opens Antitrust Probe Into Apple’s App Tracking Transparency

The case tests whether Apple’s privacy prompt distorts the mobile ad market in favor of its own services.

Overview

  • Poland’s competition authority UOKiK launched a formal investigation into whether App Tracking Transparency restricts rivals and misleads users.
  • The regulator says suspected conduct could constitute abuse of a dominant position and carry penalties of up to 10% of Apple’s annual turnover in Poland.
  • Apple denies wrongdoing, calls ATT a user-protection tool, pledges to cooperate, and warns pressure from the data-tracking industry could force it to withdraw the feature in Europe.
  • Authorities in Germany, Italy, and Romania are conducting similar inquiries, and France fined Apple €150 million in March over ATT implementation.
  • UOKiK is examining claims that Apple bypasses ATT for its own platforms to personalize ads, a point some commentators dispute as a misunderstanding of how ATT is implemented.