Apple faces £2b claim that its privacy rules tilted the ad market

LONDON — A group of UK app developers have filed a £2 billion lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the tech giant's privacy rules are giving Apple's own advertising services an unfair advantage. The Competition Appeal Tribunal in the UK received the claim from law firm Hausfeld, who argue that Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) system is unfairly biased against third-party app developers.

Introduced in 2021, ATT requires apps to obtain user consent before tracking their activity across other apps and websites. If users decline, the app loses access to information that enables targeted ads. Hausfeld maintains Apple designed and implemented ATT unfairly, imposing stricter requirements on third-party developers than its own services.

Consequently, this has left UK app developers unable to adapt their business models, resulting in significant losses. The claim comes as authorities in France, Germany, Italy, Romania, and Poland have opened similar investigations into ATT, which Apple touts as a privacy safeguard. Ann Pope, a former official from the Competition and Markets Authority, emphasized the importance of protecting British businesses that rely on Apple, ensuring fair rules and compensating losses suffered by companies.

Apple has faced fines of €150 million in France and nearly €100 million in Italy for similar cases. A company spokesperson explained that the ATT feature was created to give users control over whether apps can track their activity across other companies' apps and websites. Apple asserts that it adheres to the same requirements as other developers under ATT and emphasizes that the feature has been embraced by customers and praised by privacy advocates. The company disputes the allegations made in the claim.