Apple has agreed to change how it asks iPhone and iPad users for permission to use their personal data for advertising after Germany’s competition regulator identified that the current system could unfairly favor Apple’s own services over third-party apps.
Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, known as the Bundeskartellamt, announced the commitments on Monday, bringing a years-long investigation into Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework to an end.
Apple’s Own Apps Got More Favorable Prompts
Apple introduced ATT in 2021 to require apps to ask users before tracking their activity across other businesses’ apps and websites.
However, the German regulator identified that Apple presented consent choices differently depending on whether the request came from Apple itself or a third-party developer.
While the prompts shown for rival apps could discourage them from doing the same, it concluded that the wording, layout and available choices in Apple’s own prompts could encourage users to approve data collection.
That raised competition concerns as access to user data can be particularly important for apps that rely on personalized advertising.
Apple Must Make the Prompts Neutral
Under the agreement, Apple will have to redesign consent requests for third-party apps so that they are neutral in their wording, appearance, and available options.
The company must additionally remove symbols and language that could discourage users from granting permission to third-party developers.
The revised design will therefore have to treat Apple’s own services and competing apps more consistently when asking users about advertising-related data apply.
Apple said it still believes the existing ATT prompt gives users a clear way to control their information, but agreed to change its wording and formatting after the regulator’s demands.
Apple Has Four Months to Make the Changes
Apple has four months after the decision is formally served to implement the changes.
The commitments will remain in force for seven years, with an independent monitoring trustee tasked with checking whether Apple continues to comply.
Apple is also anticipated to involve app developers in testing the revised consent flow before it is finalized.
The changes will apply in almost all European Union countries, according to Apple.
Apple Has Faced Similar Pressure Elsewhere
Germany is not the only European country to scrutinize ATT.
Apple has consistently defended ATT as a privacy feature designed to give users more control over tracking. The German case, however, focused on whether Apple applied those privacy rules equally to itself and its competitors.
The settlement means ATT itself is not disappearing. Instead, Apple will have to make the choices presented to users more consistent regardless of which business is requesting access to their data.
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