PARIS — France’s data protection authority CNIL has fined Apple €8 million for privacy violations.
The regulator found that the U.S. tech giant did not “obtain the consent of French iPhone users (iOS 14.6 version) before depositing and/or writing identifiers used for advertising purposes on their terminals,” according to a statement released Wednesday.
The case stems from a March 2021 complaint lodged by startup lobby France Digitale, which argued Apple did not respect data protection rules. POLITICO first reported last year on the CNIL’s doubts about Apple’s privacy compliance.
Apple has pitched itself as a privacy champion. Last year it rolled out App Tracking Transparency, a feature asking users for their consent to be tracked online by third parties for targeted-ad purposes.
The CNIL’s restricted committee, a group of six people who decide on privacy penalties, decided to go further than the recommendations of the regulator’s rapporteur, who in mid-December argued for a €6 million fine.
On iOS 15, however, Apple does collect consent in line with the law, the rapporteur said at the time.
A spokesperson for the tech company said in a statement that Apple was “disappointed” and would appeal the decision.
“Apple Search Ads goes further than any other digital advertising platform we are aware of by providing users with a clear choice as to whether or not they would like personalized ads. Additionally, Apple Search Ads never tracks users across [third-party] apps and websites, and only uses first-party data to personalize ads,” the statement continues.
