French Antitrust Watchdog Fines Apple €150M Over Privacy Tool

France’s antitrust regulator, the Autorité de la concurrence, has fined Apple €150 million (approximately $164 million USD) over its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) tool for allegedly engaging in anticompetitive practices. Further action is currently on hold as other EU countries conduct investigations into the tool.

Apple’s ATT, introduced in 2021, forces apps to request user permission before collecting data for targeted advertising. If users opt out, apps cannot access the system advertising identifier (IDFA) and cannot track activity using other available information, such as email addresses.

The tool was designed to give users further control over their personal data. However, it has faced criticism from big tech and smaller companies for pushing apps away from ad revenue and toward in-app payments, on which Apple takes a 15%–30% commission.

In a March 31 press release, the Autorité declared that Apple had abused its position in the market. It claimed the company imposed unfair treatment based on the identity of the app publishers, violating the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) recommendations on neutrality.

The regulator also argued that ATT disproportionately affects smaller publishers who depend more heavily on targeted advertising and data collection as a source of income. It also found the ATT framework unnecessarily complex for users and in breach of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and France’s Data Protection Act.

“While the objective pursued by ATT is not in itself open to criticism, the way it is implemented is neither necessary nor proportionate to Apple’s stated objective of protecting personal data,” the regulator wrote.

The ruling comes in the middle of increased market tensions with US companies. It was recently announced that Apple will invest over $500 billion USD to move further operations to the US in the coming years. US President Donald Trump has previously threatened retaliation against EU countries for fining US companies.

“We apply competition law in an apolitical manner,” said Benoît Cœuré, the regulator’s president, in response to concerns that the fine came as part of a larger political move.

“While we are disappointed with today’s decision, the French Competition Authority has not required any specific changes to ATT,” Apple said in a statement.