Germany's Federal Cartel Office has ordered Apple to modify its App Tracking Transparency consent prompts, accusing the company of designing them to steer users away from sharing data with third-party apps while favoring Apple's own services. The prompts, introduced with iOS 14.5, reportedly cost social media companies nearly $10 billion in ad revenue by making cross-app tracking largely opt-in rather than default.
Background
Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework was introduced in iOS 14.5 in 2021, requiring apps to obtain user permission before tracking them across other companies' apps and websites. As a designated gatekeeper under the EU Digital Markets Act, Apple faces heightened regulatory scrutiny in Europe over platform fairness.
- Source
- The Verge
- Published
- Aug 17, 2026 at 11:10 PM
- Score
- 6.0 / 10