Italian authorities fine Apple $170 million for 'unfair and harmful' App Store to app developers and advertisers

The Italian competition authority, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), has announced that it has imposed a fine of approximately 98.63 million euros (approximately 18 billion yen) on Apple for abusing its dominant position in the App Store. The authority has determined that Apple holds an 'ultra-dominant' position in the market for app distribution platforms for iOS users, pursuant to Article 102 of

https://en.agcm.it/en/media/press-releases/2025/12/A561

Apple Hit With Supersized Fine in Italy Over an iPhone Privacy Feature - MacRumors
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/12/22/italy-fines-apple-over-app-tracking-transparency/

App Tracking Transparency, $115 million fine, Italy
https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/12/22/italy-fines-apple-115-million-over-app-tracking-transparency

The AGCM has been conducting an investigation since May 2023 and claims that Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT), which was introduced in iOS 14.5 in April 2021, has anti-competitive properties.

ATT is a feature that requires apps to obtain permission before tracking user activity for personalized advertising. However, the AGCM pointed out that ATT imposes 'double consent' on third-party developers. This means that in addition to the consent prompt under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), consent must also be obtained through Apple's own ATT. The AGCM believes this places an excessive burden on developers and advertisers, undermining their business models.

The AGCM criticized Apple, saying it could have achieved its stated data protection objectives in a less anti-competitive way, concluding that a single-step consent process would have provided equivalent privacy protections and that the current specifications for ATT impose an unfair and harmful burden on developers and advertisers. It also argued that ATT could potentially generate economic benefits for Apple.

In response, Apple strongly opposes the authorities' decision and announced in a statement to foreign media that it plans to appeal. Apple argued that 'the reason our apps don't display ATT pop-ups is because we don't track users' activity across other apps or websites,' and countered that 'ATT provides important privacy protections to users, and the AGCM disregards that value.'

While the fine is expected to be suspended until the appeals process is over, the wave of restrictions is spreading to other countries. Poland has been conducting a similar investigation into ATT since November 2025, and the impact of Apple's privacy features on the competitive landscape is under intense scrutiny across Europe. Apple has even mentioned the possibility that it may be forced to stop offering ATT within the EU in the future.