Latest news with #AppTrackingTransparency
Mint
01-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
‘Apple's policies crushed Facebook's viral games like FarmVille,' says Mark Zuckerberg
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has blamed Apple's strict App Store policies for the decline of Facebook's popular games and apps, such as the once-viral FarmVille. In a recent interview with tech writer Ben Thompson fromStratechery, Zuckerberg looked back at how Facebook's app and game platform thrived on desktop computers in the late 2000s but struggled as people moved to smartphones, reportedMacrumors. 'The original Facebook platform was really built for the web, before mobile became big,' Zuckerberg said. 'When people started using mobile more, Apple told us, 'You can't have apps inside your app.' That hurt something that had grown to be an important part of our business.' At its peak around the time Facebook went public in 2012, games and apps made up about 20 per cent of Facebook's revenue. But as Apple prevented Facebook from running its own app platform inside the iPhone, this business couldn't continue to grow. According to the report, Facebook also played a role by limiting access to some tools and changing policies in the early 2010s, partly because of concerns about privacy and security. These changes affected developers who made apps and games for Facebook. Still, he said Apple's decisions created 'deep bitterness' between the two companies. 'Apple just said, 'You can't do things we think would be valuable,' and that hurt,' Zuckerberg said. 'It's unfortunate.' In recent years, Facebook has also been hurt by Apple's App Tracking Transparency rules, which made it harder to show targeted ads on iPhones. Zuckerberg believes mobile platforms should be more open, like desktop systems such as Windows or macOS, where developers have more freedom. His comments come as Apple faces growing legal challenges over its App Store. Just this week, a U.S. judge ruled that Apple had broken a 2021 order by still stopping app developers from linking users to outside payment options. The judge ordered Apple to stop blocking those links and banned its 27% commission on such payments. Apple is also facing an antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, which claims the company keeps an illegal monopoly over the smartphone market. With regulators pushing back, Apple's 'walled garden' might finally be opening up—a change Zuckerberg has long hoped to see. First Published: 1 May 2025, 10:02 PM IST
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
France's antitrust watchdog fines Apple for problems with App Tracking Transparency
PARIS (AP) — France's antitrust watchdog fined Apple 150 million euros ($162 million) on Monday over a privacy feature protecting users from apps snooping on them because its introduction resulted in abuse of competition law. The French Competition Authority said the aim of Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) requiring iPhone and iPad apps to ask users for permission before tracking them was not in itself open to criticism. But it ruled that the 'way in which it was implemented was neither necessary nor proportionate to Apple's stated objective of protecting personal data.' Apple rolled out ATT starting in April 2021 as part of an update to the operating system powering the iPhone and iPad. The feature forces apps to obtain permission before collecting data to target users with personalized ads. While the feature was designed to tighten up privacy, it faced criticism from Big Tech rivals that it would make it harder for smaller apps to survive without charging consumers. The fine, punishing Apple for abuse of its dominant position in mobile app distribution, covers the period from April 2021 to July 2023. But the amount is a pittance for the iPhone maker, which earned $124 billion in revenue in the final three months of last year. The watchdog said the feature's rollout resulted in users being barraged by pop-ups from third-party apps requesting their consent. It bemoaned how the proliferation of these consent windows made it "excessively complex" for app users to navigate the iOS environment. It also questioned the system's neutrality, saying it penalized the smallest publishers, which depend to a large extent on the collection of third-party data to finance their activity. Apple said in a statement that ATT gives users more privacy control 'through a required, clear, and easy-to-understand prompt about one thing: tracking.' 'That prompt is consistent for all developers, including Apple, and we have received strong support for this feature from consumers, privacy advocates, and data protection authorities around the world,' the company said. "While we are disappointed with today's decision, the French Competition Authority (FCA) has not required any specific changes to ATT.' ___ AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan contributed from London. Sign in to access your portfolio
Euronews
31-03-2025
- Business
- Euronews
French antitrust watchdog fines Apple €150 million over data collection tool
ADVERTISEMENT France's national competition regulator imposed a €150 million fine on Apple on Monday, citing the company's abuse of its dominant position in the distribution of mobile applications on iOS and iPadOS. At the core of the French competition authority's decision is Apple's data collection system, which regulators say goes beyond what is necessary. The Autorité de la concurrence condemned the company's approach as 'neither necessary for nor proportionate with Apple's stated objective of protecting personal data.' In 2021, Apple introduced App Tracking Transparency (ATT), a tool designed to give users more control over their personal data. The feature prompts users to consent to data collection on third-party applications within the iOS and iPadOS ecosystem, limiting targeted advertising unless explicitly allowed. While Apple has promoted ATT as a major step toward protecting user privacy, regulators in France argue that the system may also serve to reinforce the company's dominance by restricting competitors' access to valuable data. In Monday's decision, the French watchdog did not question the ATT itself but found its implementation methods 'artificially complicate the use of third-party applications and distort the neutrality of the framework to the detriment of small publishers financed by advertising.' According to the French regulator 'multiple consent pop-ups are displayed, making the use of third-party applications in the iOS environment excessively complex.' It added that 'while advertising tracking only needs to be refused once, the user must always confirm their consent a second time.' The result was an asymmetric system, the antitrust watchdog said, whereby publishers were required to obtain double consent from users for tracking on third-party sites and applications, while Apple did not ask for consent from users of its own applications. Apple reacted in a statement Monday claiming that ATT 'gives users more control of their privacy through a required, clear, and easy-to-understand prompt about one thing: tracking.' It added 'that prompt is consistent for all developers, including Apple, and we have received strong support for this feature from consumers, privacy advocates, and data protection authorities around the world." The EU is expected to close two investigations into Apple under its Digital Markets Act in the coming days. One targets the rules of the App store and whether they prevent app developers from informing users about offers outside its App Store free of charge; another concerns Apple's browser options on iPhones.
Washington Post
31-03-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
France's antitrust watchdog fines Apple for problems with App Tracking Transparency
PARIS — France's antitrust watchdog fined Apple 150 million euros ($162 million) on Monday over a privacy feature protecting users from apps snooping on them because its introduction resulted in abuse of competition law. The French Competition Authority said the aim of Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) requiring iPhone and iPad apps to ask users for permission before tracking them was not in itself open to criticism. But it ruled that the 'way in which it was implemented was neither necessary nor proportionate to Apple's stated objective of protecting personal data.' Apple rolled out ATT starting in April 2021 as part of an update to the operating system powering the iPhone and iPad. The feature forces apps to obtain permission before collecting data to target users with personalized ads. While the feature was designed to tighten up privacy, it faced criticism from Big Tech rivals that it would make it harder for smaller apps to survive without charging consumers. The fine, punishing Apple for abuse of its dominant position in mobile app distribution, covers the period from April 2021 to July 2023. But the amount is a pittance for the iPhone maker, which earned $124 billion in revenue in the final three months of last year. The watchdog said the feature's rollout resulted in users being barraged by pop-ups from third-party apps requesting their consent. It bemoaned how the proliferation of these consent windows made it 'excessively complex' for app users to navigate the iOS environment. It also questioned the system's neutrality, saying it penalized the smallest publishers, which depend to a large extent on the collection of third-party data to finance their activity. Apple said in a statement that ATT gives users more privacy control 'through a required, clear, and easy-to-understand prompt about one thing: tracking.' 'That prompt is consistent for all developers, including Apple, and we have received strong support for this feature from consumers, privacy advocates, and data protection authorities around the world,' the company said. 'While we are disappointed with today's decision, the French Competition Authority (FCA) has not required any specific changes to ATT.' ___ AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan contributed from London.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Apple hit with $162 million French antitrust fine over privacy tool
By Florence Loeve and Foo Yun Chee PARIS (Reuters) -Apple was hit with a 150 million euro ($162.4 million) fine by French antitrust regulators on Monday for abusing its dominant position in mobile app advertising on its devices via a privacy control tool. The fine - the first by any antitrust regulator over Apple's App Tracking Transparency tool - comes a year after the European Union hit the company with a 1.8 billion euro antitrust fine for thwarting rival music streaming services on its App Store. The head of the French Competition Authority dismissed worries that the decision would prompt retaliation from U.S. President Donald Trump who has threatened to slap fines on EU countries fining U.S. companies. "We apply competition law in an apolitical manner," Benoit Coeure told a press conference. "But what we have heard ... is that they (U.S. authorities) intend to apply antitrust law to the big digital platforms as strictly as their predecessors. So in terms of antitrust, I don't see any controversy between the United States and Europe on how we apply the law," he said. The ATT tool lets iPhone and iPad users decide which apps can track their activity. Digital advertising and mobile gaming companies complained it made it more expensive and difficult for brands to advertise on Apple's platforms. "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. Coeuré told reporters the regulator had not spelled out how Apple should change its app, but that it was up to the company to make sure it now complied with the ruling. The compliance process could take some time, he added, because Apple was waiting for rulings on regulators in Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania who are also investigating the ATT tool. The French case, which covered the period 2021 to 2023, was triggered by complaints from several associations for online advertisers, publishers and internet networks accusing Apple of abusing its market power. "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 said in a statement. It added that the privacy tool "particularly penalized smaller publishers," as they depend to a large extent on the collection of third-party data to fund their businesses. Alliance Digitale, the Syndicat des Regies Internet (SRI), the Union des Entreprises de Conseil et d'Achat Média (Udecam) and the Groupement des Éditeurs de Services en Ligne, which had complained to the French watchdog, said the decision was a significant victory for advertisers. ($1 = 0.9239 euros) Sign in to access your portfolio
