France fines Apple over app distribution practices

France’s antitrust regulator fined Apple 150 million euros (USD 162 million) on Monday for abusing its dominant position in the distribution of mobile applications for iOS and iPad devices between April 2021 and July 2023.

The French Competition Authority said it found that the objective of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework asking for users’ permission before tracking them was not in itself open to criticism. But it ruled that the “way in which it was implemented was neither necessary nor proportionate to Apple’s stated objective of protecting personal data”.