German regulator forces Apple to change ad-tracking consent prompts

Germany's Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) has concluded a four-year investigation into Apple's App Tracking Transparency Framework (ATTF) by accepting binding commitments from the technology giant. The regulator mandated changes to Apple's consent prompts related to user data tracking for advertising purposes, citing concerns that the design favored Apple's own services.

The investigation focused on the ATTF, which requires third-party app developers to obtain explicit user consent before tracking data across apps for personalized advertising. However, Apple's own applications were exempt from this requirement and utilized a separate, differently designed consent prompt.

Regulators found that the two types of consent prompts were not equivalent. Apple's prompt, including its wording, layout, and options, was deemed to encourage user consent, while the prompt required for third-party apps was found to discourage it. This disparity, along with potential duplicate consent requests, led to the antitrust review.

Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt, stated that while Apple is entitled to implement privacy measures beyond legal requirements, the issue at hand was one of fair competition. Under Germany's rules for dominant digital platforms, companies cannot self-prefer their own products over rivals. The goal, Mundt emphasized, was to ensure that both accepting and declining data tracking represent equally free and informed choices.

Apple now has four months to implement the agreed-upon changes. These involve removing potentially discouraging elements from the third-party consent prompts to ensure neutrality in content, wording, and layout, aligning them with Apple's own product prompts. Developers will also gain more flexibility in how they present the importance of personalized ads and sequence their own consent requests.