Apple faces £2 billion lawsuit in UK over app privacy feature
Apple is facing a £2 billion lawsuit in the UK from app developers who claim its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature creates an unfair competitive advantage. The claimants argue that the privacy rules disproportionately harm third-party developers compared to Apple's own advertising services.
Why it matters
This case highlights the ongoing tension between tech giants' privacy initiatives and antitrust concerns regarding market dominance.
Apple faces a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) lawsuit brought by UK app developers who accused Thursday the U.S. tech giant of giving its own advertising services an unfair advantage by imposing tougher privacy rules on third parties.
The claim, filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal by law firm Hausfeld, centres on Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) system, which has also come under scrutiny in several European countries.
The feature, introduced by Apple in 2021, requires apps to obtain user consent through a pop-up window before tracking their activity across other apps and websites.
If they decline, the app loses access to information on that user which enables targeted ads.
The claimants argue that the system was "designed and implemented unfairly and without proper consultation, imposing stricter requirements on third-party app developers than on its own services."
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