Apple: Federal Cartel Office investigates tracking brake

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Apple logo: Does the company prefer advertising tracking?

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JOSH EDELSON/AFP

The Federal Cartel Office has launched an investigation into Apple's anti-tracking regulations.

This was announced by the authority on Tuesday.

The focus is on how Apple enables its users to prevent their behavior from being tracked across different apps and websites.

The authority wants to investigate whether Apple's regulations give preferential treatment to its own offers or could hinder other companies.

Apple rejected the allegations.

The “App Tracking Transparency” (ATT) function announced in summer 2020 was introduced on iPhones, iPads and the Apple TV set-top box in April 2021 after loud protests from the advertising industry.

Corporations such as Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), which are heavily dependent on advertising revenue, complained that without tracking they would no longer be able to display targeted advertising and would have to accept large losses in revenue.

In Germany, leading associations in the media, internet and advertising industries filed a complaint against Apple with the Federal Cartel Office in April 2021.

They claimed that the company with ATT abused its market power and violated antitrust law.

Special rules for Apple?

The President of the Bundeskartellamt, Andreas Mundt, said that one welcomes data-friendly business models that give users the freedom to choose how their data is used.

"A company like Apple, which can unilaterally set the rules in its ecosystem and especially in the App Store, should make them competitive." There are reasonable doubts about this if Apple sets rules for third parties that shouldn't apply to Apple of all things.

The head of the authority said that users could restrict the use of their data in relation to Apple in the settings with regard to their use for personalized advertising.

However, according to the preliminary status, Apple is not subject to the new and additional ATT regulations.

Apple explained that the ATT data protection concept gives users the choice of whether or not apps can track them or pass their information on to third parties.

"ATT does not prevent companies from advertising, nor does it restrict the use of the data they receive from users with their consent."

According to Apple, these rules apply to all developers, including Apple itself.

"Apple adheres to a higher standard of data protection than almost any other company by giving users the opportunity to decide for themselves whether they want personalized advertising or not." The company will also continue to work constructively with the Federal Cartel Office to protect everyone to clarify questions.

mak/dpa