Apple Antitrust Complaint: French Users Accuse Company of Running Personalized Ads Without Consent in New iOS 14.4

Sieeka Khan, Tech Times 09 March 2021, 09:03 am

Apple recently released iOS 14.5, and now the new App Tracking Transparency policies require developers to get consent before they can share user data with third-party advertising networks.

However, this new update may not be as effective as expected because a new French complaint alleges that the tech giant's own advertising network is not held to the same standard.

Apple's French antitrust complaint about ads

According to Bloomberg, the complaint accuses Apple of allowing data from the company's apps to serve targeted ads by default.

Apple's system does not fall under the App Tracking Transparency or ATT rules because there is no third-party data sharing. However, this loophole is viewed by Apple users as unfair treatment.

Also Read: iPhone's Ad ID Allows Apps to Know User's Real Name! Experts Suggest to Do This

The bottom line of the complaint is that if the company really cares about its users' privacy, the tech giant should be transparent and up-front about its own ad policies and not just apply the ATT rules to third-party networks.

The Personalized Ads system setting for Apple Advertising is enabled by default according to Apple Support, and this is not clearly disclosed to Apple users. This means that it can be interpreted as Apple giving its own ad network an advantage, as it can collect user data that can be used to deliver ad campaigns.

Apple had stated that its personalized ads are made to be privacy-preserving, and its generated demographics can't identify individuals.

The complaint also pointed out that Apple's on-by-default policy for its own ad network is a breach of General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR, an EU law on privacy and data protection.

ATT rules

As for ATT, a group of apps from the same developer can share data between them. ATT dialogs are only needed if the developer wants to send data to a third-party network, like an ad network.

For example, Facebook can share user data among Instagram, Messenger, and the Facebook app without needing user permission. As for Apple, they are both the developer of the apps and the ad network provider.

However, smaller developers do not have the resources to run their own advertising platforms, and they would need to rely on third-party ad networks to get their materials monetized.

This is where the ATT dialogs will be needed. The ad networks are worried that many users will not allow ad tracking when they are asked for their consent, which could potentially damage the revenue they can get.

The complainants would like Apple to treat its own ad network as a third-party network and ask for user consent before sharing their data, according to a report by NewsBreak.

This is just the latest case in a long list of lawsuits that Apple is facing in the wake of the App Tracking Transparency rules. ATT will go into full effect in the next couple of months, together with the release of iOS 14.5. Although the changes are better for user privacy, they will definitely have a negative impact on businesses.

According to Forbes, due to the new ATT rules, advertising providers are worried that they will no longer be able to make the same amount of revenue with the expectation that most users will not agree to data sharing.