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[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] The French government has imposed a fine exceeding KRW 2 trillion on Apple for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the App Store.


According to local business daily Les Échos on Monday (local time), France’s competition authority fined Apple €150 million (approximately KRW 2.3 trillion). The regulator ruled that Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature, introduced in April 2021, violated fair competition laws.


ATT requires applications to obtain explicit user consent before tracking personal data, such as browsing history or app usage, across other apps and websites. This change significantly impacted advertisers and app developers who relied on tracking iPhone and iPad users for targeted advertising.


The French competition authority acknowledged that implementing ATT for privacy protection was justified but criticized the way Apple applied it. The regulator found that Apple’s implementation was asymmetrical and hindered fair competition—while imposing strict and complex consent requirements on third-party apps, Apple allegedly created a more favorable advertising and search environment for its own apps, thereby abusing its dominant market position.


Similar investigations into Apple’s ATT policy are ongoing in Germany, Italy, Romania, and Poland.



Apple responded with disappointment, stating that ATT applies equally to all developers, including Apple itself, and has received strong support from global consumers and data protection authorities.

 

 

 

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