France's privacy watchdog Commission Nationale Informatique & Libertés (CNIL) on Wednesday said it had imposed a EUR 8 million fine linked to ad personalisation in the iPhone maker's App Store, citing shortcomings with regard to user consent.
"The advertising targeting settings available from the
"Settings" icon of the iPhone were pre-checked by default", the
CNIL said in a statement, even though that was not strictly necessary for the
device's functioning.
It added that the case, which dates back to 2021, concerned
an old version of the phone's iOS operating software.
The lobby group which brought the case had argued that Apple
under iOS 14 had failed to ask iPhone users clearly enough for their prior
consent to allow installed mobile apps to gather a key identifier used for
targeted ads.
Apple said after the announcement it was "disappointed
with this decision" and that it would file an appeal.
"Apple Search Ads goes further than any other digital
advertising platform we are aware of by providing users with a clear choice as
to whether or not they would like personalised ads", the company said.
Apple's privacy updates, called App Tracking Transparency,
give users the option to block apps from tracking activity across apps and
websites owned by other companies.
The fine was higher than the EUR 6 million penalty requested
by the CNIL's top adviser. © Reuters
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