Apple Eases EU Tracking Rules After Antitrust Scrutiny

The changes affect Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework, known as ATT, which requires apps to obtain permission before tracking users across other companies’ apps and websites. According to TechCrunch, the revisions follow years of scrutiny from European competition authorities, including Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, over concerns that Apple’s rules could treat third-party developers differently from its own services.

Apple has defended ATT as a privacy safeguard that gives users greater control over their data. The company’s agreements with European competition authorities don’t eliminate the consent requirement or change when developers must initially seek permission, according to Apple’s developer documentation.

Starting with iOS 27.2 and iPadOS 27.2, developers distributing apps in the EU will be able to use an alternative version of Apple’s tracking-consent screen. The new format modifies the presentation and wording of the request and can include an “Additional Information” option allowing developers to explain their data practices, Apple said.

TechCrunch reported that the alternative design uses a full-page consent screen rather than the existing pop-up and changes some of the terminology associated with tracking. Users will be presented with choices framed as “Allow” and “Reject,” according to the publication.

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The design of the consent screen has been part of the broader competition debate surrounding ATT. Regulators have examined whether Apple can impose restrictions on third-party apps while applying different mechanisms to its own collection and use of customer data. Apple has disputed that its privacy policies unfairly favor its business and has argued that ATT applies protections designed to prevent cross-company tracking.

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The issue carries significant commercial implications for developers and advertising companies. Users frequently decline tracking requests under ATT, reducing the data available for targeted advertising and measurement, according to TechCrunch. Advertising-dependent businesses have consequently been among the most prominent critics of Apple’s framework.

The revised system will vary across the EU. Developers generally will be able to choose whether to adopt the alternative prompt, while apps distributed in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and Romania will be required to use it because of legal requirements, Apple said.

Apple is also changing how frequently developers can ask users to reconsider their decision. In the EU, an app will be permitted to present the ATT request again one year after a user’s previous choice, whether the user initially accepted or rejected tracking, according to Apple’s documentation. That won’t apply when a user has disabled the device-level setting allowing apps to make tracking requests.

The concessions underscore how European antitrust enforcement is influencing the rules Apple sets for businesses operating on its mobile platform. Regulators have increasingly scrutinized whether policies that Apple presents as measures to protect security or privacy can also affect competition between the company and businesses dependent on access to iPhone users.

Source: TechCrunch