Apple to change iPhone tracking prompts after German regulator probe

MUMBAI: Apple’s privacy shield has hit a regulatory speed bump. The company has agreed to change how third-party apps ask iPhone and iPad users for permission to track their activity after Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) raised concerns that its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework could put outside developers at a disadvantage.

The German regulator said Apple’s existing system gave its own apps more favourable consent prompts than those available to third-party developers, prompting a long-running competition investigation.

Under the settlement, Apple will redesign the consent pop-ups shown by third-party apps. The language, symbols and presentation will have to be “visually and linguistically neutral”, removing elements the regulator believes could discourage users from allowing tracking.

Apple will have four months to implement the changes once the decision is formally served. The commitments will remain in place for seven years, with compliance to be overseen by an independent trustee.

The impact will extend beyond Germany, with the revised rules applying across almost all European Union countries.

Apple introduced ATT in 2021, requiring apps to seek users’ permission before tracking their activity across third-party apps and websites for advertising purposes. The move was welcomed by privacy advocates as a way of giving users greater control over their data, but advertising businesses and developers have argued that the system has made targeted advertising harder and affected their revenues.

That tension is now at the heart of the regulatory dispute. Developers such as Meta have argued that access to user data enables more effective personalised advertising, which can generate higher returns than broader campaigns.

The FCO also secured concessions that will give developers greater flexibility to combine Apple’s mandatory tracking request with their own privacy and data-protection notices. The change could reduce the friction users face when navigating multiple consent requests.

Apple has maintained that ATT provides a clear and effective way for users to control their data and noted that German data protection authorities had previously supported the framework. However, it has agreed to modify the wording and formatting of the prompts at the regulator’s request so that the privacy system can continue operating across Europe.

Germany’s action is not the first regulatory headache for ATT. France imposed a €150 million fine, while Italy levied a €98.6 million fine over aspects of Apple’s tracking framework.

The latest settlement adds another layer to Europe’s scrutiny of Apple’s privacy policies, particularly the question of whether a platform owner can impose rules on third-party developers while giving its own services a different treatment.

For Apple, the message from regulators is becoming harder to ignore: protecting privacy may be the goal, but the way that protection is presented cannot itself become a competitive advantage.