Polish Regulator Probes Apple Over App Tracking

Apple is facing regulatory trouble in Poland over antitrust concerns related to the App Tracking Transparency for iOS, according to a Monday (Dec. 13) report from Apple Insider.

With the introduction of App Tracking Transparency, Apple has limited the amount of data that third-party firms can access, offering Apple users greater privacy.

Per the report, the program has seen critiques from both advertising-focused companies and the wider industry, and it is now being investigated by Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) over competition fears.

The watchdog was looking into the rules on privacy and personal data processing to see if any competition laws were violated. It added that Apple’s rules have cut down on the ability for third-party apps to get user data and target ads to them.

“We want to examine whether Apple’s actions may be aimed at eliminating competitors in the market for personalized advertising services, the objective being to better sell their own service,” UOKiK president Tomasz Chrostny said in a statement. “We will investigate whether this is a case of exclusionary abuse of market power.”

Regulators worldwide have been looking for solutions on how to both rein in and better regulate big tech.

PYMNTS writes that the European Union has been leveling numerous fines. Russia recently laid down a 9 million ruble fine against tech giant Google for not deleting banned content.

See also: Europe’s Battle to Curb Big Tech’s Power Continues With More Fines

Apple has also been challenging Russia’s antitrust authority after the regulator fined it $12 million for reportedly abusing App Store dominance and cracking down on third-party parental control apps.

Meanwhile, Amazon has vowed to appeal a $1.3 billion fine from Italian regulators for alleged abuse of market dominance. In that case, the company had been found to have favored third-party sellers using its logistics services.