According to The Verge, Italy’s antitrust regulator, the AGCM, has fined Apple more than €98 million, which is roughly $116 million. The fine, announced recently, specifically targets Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy that launched back in 2021. The AGCM says Apple abused its dominant App Store position by imposing “excessively burdensome” and “disproportionate” privacy rules on third-party developers. These rules require those developers to ask users for consent to track their data twice, while Apple’s own apps can get permission with a single tap. The regulator argues this double-consent burden has reduced user opt-in rates for ad profiling, directly harming developers who rely on personalized ad revenue.
The Double Standard Problem
Here’s the thing: this fine isn’t really about privacy itself. It’s about fairness and competition. The Italian watchdog is calling out what looks like a classic case of Apple playing by one set of rules for itself and another, much stricter set for everyone else. By making the process more cumbersome for third-party apps, Apple arguably tilts the economic playing field. Developers see their ad revenue drop because fewer people click through two prompts, while Apple’s own advertising business—which is growing—doesn’t face the same friction. It’s a clever, if controversial, way to use privacy as a competitive moat. And regulators are finally starting to question if that’s an abuse of power.
A Sign of Things to Come
So, is this a one-off? I doubt it. This Italian fine feels like another shot across the bow in the global regulatory war against Big Tech’s walled gardens. We’ve seen the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in Europe force Apple to open up its ecosystem. Now, a national regulator is using existing antitrust law to challenge the *application* of Apple’s own policies. That’s a significant escalation. It signals that even the features Apple touts as pro-user, like ATT, can be scrutinized for anti-competitive side effects. Other countries might look at this and think, “Hey, we can do that too.” Apple’s argument that it’s just protecting user privacy is getting harder to sell when its own apps get a free pass.
What It Means For Developers
For app developers, this is a bittersweet validation. They’ve complained for years that ATT crippled their ad-based business models while leaving Apple unscathed. Now a major regulator agrees. But don’t expect a sudden change. Apple will almost certainly appeal, and the legal process will drag on. In the meantime, the economic pressure remains. This ruling might, however, give developers more ammunition in their ongoing battles and could encourage more formal complaints elsewhere. Basically, it adds legal weight to the feeling that the App Store isn’t a level playing field. The big question is whether this leads to actual policy changes from Apple, or just more fines it’s willing to pay as a cost of doing business.
