Does Apple's privacy policy and personal data processing rules on iOS devices violate competition rules? On December 13, the Polish Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) announced in a statement that an investigation had been launched.
Contents of the bulletin.
When people use mobile devices, they often disclose personal data and online activity information. This data is then used to personalize ad impressions. Also, the open persons of the application and operating system may share data related to the user with third parties.
The head of UOKiK said an investigation has been launched into changes to the privacy policy and personal data processing rules of Apple devices. This applies to all products running iOS, including iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, tvOS14.5 and their successors.
According to Nandu reporter, Apple announced at the Global Developers Conference in June 2020 that in order to protect user privacy, the new policy of ATT (App Tracking Transparency) will turn off advertising identifiers (IDFA) by default, and users can choose whether to allow apps to track their own digital traces.
On April 27, Apple released the iOS 14.5 version and officially required the app to track users before needing to obtain consent from the pop-up window. This means that users' autonomy to choose is increased, but because people often refuse to authorize personal information, the accuracy of third-party app advertising pushes will be reduced, and it is likely to lose a large number of advertiser customers.
The move was pointed to the "cake" of the advertising industry, and Internet companies and advertisers, including Facebook, clearly objected. UOKiK noted in the briefing that there are suspicions that Apple has adjusted the new privacy rules to promote its own advertising service, Apple Search Ads, which may violate competition rules.
"The behavior of digital giants is a challenge to antitrust agencies around the world. Our survey was designed to examine whether Apple was doing this to eliminate competitors in the personalized advertising services market or to better sell its own services. "We will investigate whether this is an abuse of market power to carry out exclusivity." ”
Nandu reporter previously reported that Apple's new privacy regulations have received multiple complaints since they were announced. On April 26, a coalition of German media advertising companies accused Apple of abusing its market dominance by implementing ATT features, which made it impossible for competitors to obtain advertising-related data in the Apple ecosystem. At that time, a spokesman for the German Federal Cartel Office confirmed that the complaint had been received and an investigation was underway.
Earlier, French online advertisers filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in October 2020, hoping that French regulators would order Apple to suspend ATT functionality and talk to industry participants to find a solution to obtain user authorization for third-party ad tracking.
In March, the French Competition Authority rejected the request of the French advertiser, arguing that Apple's setting up the ATT function is not an abuse, but will continue to investigate whether Apple has anti-competitive issues such as discrimination or self-preferential treatment.
Written by: Nandu reporter Li Ling
![Apple's new privacy policy has been investigated by Polish agencies: questioning Apple is to promote its own advertising service[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)