France Poised for Antitrust Action Against Apple

Apple may soon face antitrust action in France, with the French Competition Authority looking at Apple’s app tracking policies.

Apple made a controversial move a couple of years ago to limit how third-party companies can track users. While many of Apple’s customers appreciated the change, Apple’s competitors cried foul, with many claiming Apple did not hold itself to the same standard. Independent reports have confirmed that Apple has been the biggest beneficiary of its new policy.

France appears poised to take action, according to Axios, with the country on the verge of a full-blown antitrust action against Apple. The investigation would be the first of its kind taken against Apple over its ad tracking privacy rules.

The outlet’s sources say regulators are favoring a “Statement of Objections” to the involved parties:

That step would signal to groups that issued initial complaints about Apple’s actions and Apple that the authority found evidence of illegal anticompetitive behavior in its initial review of the complaints it received.

This is not the first time France has taken aim at Apple. France’s CNIL recently fined the company $8.5 million for collecting iPhone user data without consent and then using that data for targeted advertising. What’s more, the CNIL found that Apple made it unnecessarily difficult for users to opt out of the data collection, limiting their ability to avoid targeted ads.

France clearly has no issue tangling with one of the world’s biggest companies and holding its feet to the fire regarding its pro-privacy claims.