London: Apple is facing a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) lawsuit in London brought on behalf of app developers over its app tracking rules, with the company accused of using its market power to impose tougher requirements on third-party developers.
The lawsuit was filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal on September 3 and follows years of regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature, which was introduced in 2021.
Apple has said that the feature was designed to give users greater control over whether apps can track their activity across other companies’ apps and websites.
However, lawyers behind the latest case allege that Apple applies stricter requirements to third-party developers than to its own services, giving the company’s advertising ecosystem an unfair competitive advantage.
The legal action is being led by Ann Pope, a former senior official at the UK Competition and Markets Authority. The claim argues that Apple’s tracking policy has caused significant harm to businesses that rely on the company’s platform and is seeking compensation for losses suffered by British companies.
Apple has previously defended App Tracking Transparency as an important privacy protection but did not immediately comment on the latest lawsuit.
The feature has faced regulatory scrutiny in several European countries, including Germany. In August, Apple agreed to changes to its app data consent rules following concerns raised by Germany’s competition authority over how developers can use personal data for targeted advertising.
German regulators had previously accused Apple of abusing its market position, while Meta, publishers, advertisers and app developers whose business models depend on advertising tracking have also criticised aspects of the system.
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