Germany’s Bundeskartellamt said Apple must stop favoring its own apps in personal data collection prompts and revise the wording and design of consent requests for third-party developers.
The authority’s case centers on Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework, introduced in April 2021, which asks users whether they want to allow an app developer to collect personal data when they open an app.
The Bundeskartellamt said Apple’s current setup does not create a level playing field between its own apps and those from third parties. It said “the wording, design and selection options of the request used for Apple’s own offerings had the potential to encourage users to give their consent, whereas they had the potential to discourage consent for third-party apps.”
Under the ruling, Apple must remove what the authority described as possibly discouraging symbols and wording from its predefined requests for third-party providers.
The regulator said data collection consent prompts must become neutral in content, wording and layout.
Apple has four months to implement the changes and must test the revised prompts with app developers, the Bundeskartellamt said. The commitments will remain in force for seven years, and an independent monitoring trustee will oversee Apple’s compliance, the authority said.
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