Apple Faces German Antitrust Probe Into App Tracking Transparency

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Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, has initiated proceedings against Apple to investigate whether its tracking rules and anti-tracking technology are anti-competitive and self-serving, according to a press release.

The proceeding announced today will review under competition law Apple’s tracking rules and specifically its App Tracking Transparency Framework (ATT) in order to ascertain whether they are self-preferencing Apple or being an impediment to third-party apps. Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, said of the proceeding:
“We welcome business models which use data carefully and give users choice as to how their data are used. A corporation like Apple … “