Apple is once again targeted by European antitrust regulators, this time in France.

Apple has once again come under scrutiny from Europe's antitrust regulatory authorities. This time, it is the regulatory body in France that has taken action.

On Tuesday, July 25th, the French competition authority, Autorité de la concurrence, issued a statement announcing that it has filed a complaint against Apple regarding its business practices in the mobile app distribution sector. The authority alleges that Apple's actions may have an impact on various related markets, including advertising services.

The competition authority, known as FCA, accuses Apple of abusing its dominant market position and creating a "discriminatory, non-objective, and non-transparent" environment when it comes to using user data for advertising purposes.

It has been reported that Apple has previously faced complaints from several advertising industry organizations, as it was being investigated for using Apple system user data to deliver targeted ads. In 2021, advertising industry organizations attempted to prevent Apple from launching the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature.

ATT requires third-party apps to request permission from Apple users to track their ad preferences. Advertisers seeking to promote their ads have criticized Apple's practices as unfair, as Apple's native apps do not seek user consent in the same way that third-party apps do, regarding the use of user data for personalized advertising. Unless users actively opt out in their settings, Apple is allowed to track user data by default.

In March 2021, the French FCA refused to ban ATT but stated that it would continue to investigate whether Apple imposes fewer restrictions on its own apps compared to third-party developers. This week's warning indicates that the regulatory authority believes that Apple has indeed abused its market position by providing preferential treatment to its own apps.

Apple subsequently responded by stating that ATT requires all apps to obtain user permission before tracking their data, and that Apple, like all developers, must comply with ATT. Apple's apps do not display the ATT tracking permission prompt because they do not track user or device data for advertising purposes, nor do they share this data with data brokers.

Apple stated that the goals of ATT have received strong support from regulatory authorities, including the FCA, and the company will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the FCA to ensure that users always have control over their own data.

Prior to the FCA's allegations, Apple had not yet resolved its antitrust case with the European Union.

In May of last year, the EU formally filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, citing restrictions on users purchasing technology and services through third parties on Apple devices. The main focus of the investigation was Apple's proprietary mobile payment solution, Apple Pay, and its NFC (Near Field Communication) technology.

The EU believed that Apple may have abused its dominant position in the mobile payment market on Apple devices by restricting competition through the exclusive use of NFC technology, which enables "tap-to-pay" functionality, for Apple Pay.

Earlier reports from Wall Street Journal mentioned that Apple could face substantial fines as a result of these allegations, with the maximum amount being 10% of its global annual revenue, and may be forced to open up its mobile payment system to competitors.

Source: Wallstreetcn Apple subsequently defended itself on the grounds of "user safety," but the European Union rejected this reasoning.

In June of last year, Germany's antitrust agency announced another investigation into Apple's regulations on tracking third-party apps, assessing whether these regulations give preferential treatment to Apple itself or hinder the business of other companies, and explicitly pointed out that ATT may have issues.