Apple has been fined 150 million euros by French antitrust regulators for abusing its dominant position in mobile app advertising on its devices using a privacy control tool between 2021 and 2023. The regulators did not mandate Apple to change the tool. This fine is the first of its kind by any antitrust regulator against Apple concerning its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature, which allows users to control app tracking on iPhones and iPads.

Although ATT aims to protect personal data, the French competition watchdog criticized Apple for its implementation, stating it was not necessary or proportional to the stated objective. The regulator highlighted that the tool disproportionately affected smaller publishers who rely heavily on third-party data for their business operations. Apple has been instructed to publish the decision on its website for seven days.

Compared to the 1.8 billion euro penalty imposed by the EU on Apple last year for impeding music streaming rivals through App Store restrictions, the French fine is smaller. Apple expressed disappointment with the fine but noted that no specific changes to the privacy control tool were mandated. The German antitrust agency also has concerns about Apple's ATT, as it accuses the company of favoring itself.