Apple is being investigated by Germany’s antitrust watchdog over whether the US tech company’s tracking rules for third-party apps gives it preferential treatment or undermines its rivals in the latest crackdown against the power of Big Tech.
Germany’s Federal Cartel Office on Tuesday opened an investigation into the way Apple tracks third-party apps, raising concerns that the company’s rules were “self-preferencing” and harmed competition given Apple’s ability to “unilaterally set rules for its ecosystem”.
Apple’s new tracking rules, introduced in April 2021, force third-party apps to ask users for permission before they track their behaviour to serve them personalised ads.
The changes have had a significant impact on the advertising businesses of large technology companies. In October 2021, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Snap were estimated to have lost 12 per cent of revenue in the third and fourth quarters of the year, or $9.85bn, as a result of these changes, according to adtech company Lotame.
Apple has come under scrutiny previously over similar concerns. Last year, the French competition watchdog opened an investigation to assess whether Apple was acting as a gatekeeper when it came to third-party apps but it concluded that the company was not abusing its dominant position.
The latest probe comes after a group of Germany’s largest media, tech and advertising companies, and industry bodies representing companies including Facebook and Axel Springer, the owner of Bild, Die Welt and Insider, filed a complaint about Apple’s update last April.
They predicted a 60 per cent fall in advertising revenues for app developers.
The watchdog said it was concerned that Apple’s new rules did not apply to itself.
“All apps have to ask for their users’ consent to track their data. Apple’s rules now also make tracking conditional on the users’ consent to the use and combination of their data, ” the statement said. “These rules apparently do not affect Apple when using and combining user data from its own ecosystem.”
Andreas Mundt, the agency’s head, said: “We have reason to doubt that this is the case when we see that Apple’s rules apply to third parties, but not to Apple itself. This would allow Apple to preference its own offers or impede other companies.”
Mundt said the fresh probe came about thanks to new powers the watchdog received under a new law introduced in 2021. German antitrust investigators have already concluded probes against other large tech companies, including Google and Facebook, using the new legal powers.
Apple on Tuesday said its rules applied equally to all developers — including itself. The tech company said it had received strong support from regulators and privacy advocates for its changes.
“ATT [App Tracking Transparency] simply gives users the choice whether or not they want to allow apps to track them or share their information with data brokers. ATT does not prevent companies from advertising or restrict their use of the first-party data they obtain from users with their consent,” it said.
Apple said it would continue to engage constructively with the FCO to address questions and “discuss how our approach promotes competition and choice, while protecting users’ privacy and security”.
