Apple, the Antitrust is moving in France: the tracking of iPhone users is in the crosshairs

The French Antitrust is ready to move against Applefollowing a complaint by some associations representing transalpine advertisers, who in 2021 complained about the change of privacy policy in updating the iPhone operating system.

If the Antitrust move becomes concrete, he points out Axios which broke the news first, would be the first step by a major country towards the mechanism that has changed the way advertisers can track users and their reaction to advertising content. An innovation that, not by chance, has made itself felt a lot in the business of the main web operators, who have had to digest the novelty not without setbacks. Since 2021, changes to how Apple is tracking have made it easier for iPhone users to opt for refuse to be tracked using the Apps on their smartphone. A modality that has cost rivals, such as Meta, billions in advertising revenue, while Apple’s business has continued to grow. Cupertino’s defense has always been that it acted in the name of the respect for privacybut for competitors it is a move to enhance their earnings.

According to reports from the American newspaper, the French authorities would be willing to issue a “Statement of Objections” to the various parties involved, within the next few weeks: this means that from the complaints by the advertising groups, the Antitrust has found a smoke of something wrong, so much so that it needs further investigation.

The original complaints pointed the finger at the fact that Apple’s new user tracking systems were not sufficiently compliant with European privacy regulations and that the company itself instead put itself on a different level compared to its competitors, taking advantage of them as a ability to reach iOS users with advertising messages.

Both Apple and the French antitrust did not respond to requests for comment. In 2021, the same authority had said that it did not see an abuse of a dominant position in the change of user tracking methods and that it would continue to investigate in any case, although it did not see the urgency of doing so. Evidntemente, if confirmed the news of Axios, has still found something to continue on.