The Italian government has sued Apple. Again. Italy’s competition watchdog has fined Apple more than 98 million euros (about $114.8 million), saying the company abused its dominance in the digital economy through its app-tracking transparency policy, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The AGCM claims the tech giant imposes unfair privacy rules on app developers by requiring them to gain users’ consent to collect and use data for advertising through a specific prompt. The watchdog said the prompt essentially forces app developers to ask for consent twice for the same purpose.
It said the tech giant’s app-tracking transparency terms harm the interests of Apple’s commercial partners.
However, Apple says its app-tracking transparency policy lets users easily decide whether apps can track their online activity, saying that its policy has received support from privacy agencies and that it will continue to defend the system. “We will continue to defend strong privacy protections for our users as we appeal,” a company spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal.
This isn’t the first brush-up Apple has had with the Italian government. In 2021 Italy levied a joint fine of $230 million against Apple and Google, claiming the companies were profiting from the use of user data, without telling those users what the purposes are. The country’s Competition and Market Authority, claimed that the companies violate the Consumer Code.
“The Antitrust Authority has ascertained for each company two violations of the Consumer Code,” said the regulator in a statement (in Italian), “One for informative deficiencies and another for aggressive practises related to the acquisition and use of consumer data for commercial purposes.”
And THAT wasn’t the first time Apple was fined in Italy. In 2020 the tech giant was fined by the Italian Antitrust Authority for 10 million euro (about $12 million) for allegedly misleading consumers in marketing the water-resistance of its iPhones.
The fine from the regulator was laid against Apple Distribution International and Apple Italia SRL, over two commercial practices in how it marketed Apple’s smartphone range from the iPhone 8 to the iPhone 11. In its advertising, Apple said its iPhones can withstand water for depths ranging from 1 meter to 4 meters, and for up to 30 minutes. On the first count, Apple was accused of not properly clarifying to consumers that the depths and timing work under specific conditions, such as lab-controlled testing with static and pure water.
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Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today
