Apple has been hit with a substantial fine of 98.6 million euros (approximately $116 million) by Italy's competition watchdog. The penalty was issued on Monday, 22 December 2025, after a ruling that the tech giant abused its market dominance through one of its key privacy features.
The Core of the Antitrust Complaint
The Italian Antitrust Authority found that Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy unfairly restricted competition within its App Store ecosystem. Introduced in an iOS update starting in April 2021, ATT requires third-party apps to obtain explicit user permission before tracking their data for personalised advertising.
While the authority did not criticise the privacy intent of the feature itself, it took issue with the implementation. The regulator stated that Apple's system forces app developers to seek user consent twice to comply with Europe's stringent privacy laws—once via Apple's own prompt and again through their own.
A "Disproportionate" Burden on Developers
The watchdog concluded that this double consent requirement was "disproportionate" to the goal of protecting user data. It argued the mechanism unfairly disadvantages businesses whose models rely on advertising revenue.
"As a result, such double consent requirement is harmful to developers, whose business model relies on the sale of advertising space, as well as to advertisers and advertising intermediation platforms," the authority said in its official statement. This echoed concerns from larger tech rivals that the policy could cripple smaller apps unable to charge users directly.
A Growing Pattern of Scrutiny in Europe
This is not an isolated case for Apple in Europe. The finding mirrors a previous action by the French antitrust authority, which in March fined Apple 150 million euros over similar concerns regarding its consent mechanisms.
Apple did not provide an immediate comment following the Italian ruling. However, when the investigation was first announced in 2023, the Cupertino-based company defended its privacy framework and stated it intended to engage with the Italian authorities to resolve their questions.
The significant fine underscores the escalating regulatory pressure on major tech platforms in Europe, where authorities are increasingly scrutinising how market dominance intersects with new privacy and competition rules.
