In the seven-page complaint seen by Reuters, the lobby,
which represents the bulk of France's digital entrepreneurs and venture
capitalists, alleges Apple's latest operating software, iOS 14, does not comply
with EU privacy requirements.
France Digitale argues that while iPhone owners are asked
whether they are ready to allow installed mobile apps to gather a key
identifier used to define campaign ads and send targeted avertisements, default
settings allow Apple to carry its own targeted ad campaigns without clearly
asking iPhone users for their prior consent.
Under EU data privacy rules, all organisations must ask
visitors online if they agree to have some of their data collected via trackers
or other tools.
The same rules also provide the right to anyone to ask for
information on the purposes of such data collection and how they are collected.
The lobby also alleges that Apple's tracking functionality
allows it to share the data it collects with affiliated companies without
telling users ahead.
"It's a startup version of David versus Goliath, but we
are determined," France Digitale CEO Nicolas Brien in a statement.
"The allegations in the complaint are patently false
and will be seen for what they are, a poor attempt by those who track users to
distract from their own actions and mislead regulators and policymakers,"
Apple said in a written statement.
The complaint by France Digitale follows similar litigation
against Apple filed by French online advertising lobbies with the antitrust
authority last October.
It also comes after complaints filed by Austrian advocacy
group Noyb with data protection watchdogs in Germany and Spain alleging that
Apple's tracking tool illegally enabled the US tech giant to store users' data
without their consent.
© Reuters
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