Apple has threatened to disable a core privacy feature for iPhone users across Europe, citing intense lobbying from the online advertising industry and scrutiny from competition regulators.
The tech giant’s warning suggests that its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature, which allows users to block cross-app ad tracking, could be removed for European consumers.
Apple’s statement indicates pressure from ongoing lobbying efforts in Germany, Italy, and other European nations.
“Intense lobbying efforts in Germany, Italy, and other European countries may force us to remove this feature, to the detriment of European consumers,” Apple stated.
This potential move would eliminate a significant layer of privacy protection for iPhone users in the region.
The threat comes amidst an active investigation by Germany’s Bundeskartellamt, the national competition authority.
Introduced in April 2021, ATT prompts users for consent when an application first attempts to track their activity across different apps.
The vast majority of users opt out of this targeted tracking, impacting the profitability of personalized advertisements for the online advertising sector.
In February, the Bundeskartellamt accused Apple of granting preferential treatment to its own applications.
The German regulator observed that ATT made it “much more difficult for competing app publishers to access advertising-relevant user data.”
While Apple’s own apps are exempt from ATT’s cross-app tracking rules, the authority determined that Apple could still combine data from its App Store, user accounts, and connected devices for its own advertising purposes.
The Bundeskartellamt has not yet announced a timeline for its final decision.
Apple has a history of removing features for European users; previously, advanced data protection for iCloud was deactivated in the United Kingdom following unsuccessful requests from authorities for a “backdoor” into the service.