Apple faces £2bn UK lawsuit over app tracking

Apple faces a £2 billion lawsuit from UK app developers who accuse the company of giving its own advertising services an unfair advantage through its app tracking privacy rules.

The claim, filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal by law firm Hausfeld, centres on Apple's App Tracking Transparency system. The feature, introduced in 2021, requires apps to obtain user consent through a pop-up before tracking activity across other apps and websites.

If a user declines, the app loses access to information that enables targeted advertising.

The claimants argue that the system was designed and implemented unfairly and without proper consultation, imposing stricter requirements on third-party app developers than on Apple's own services. Hausfeld said this left UK app developers unable to adapt their business models in time to avoid significant losses.

Ann Pope, a former Competition and Markets Authority official who brought the claim, said the action was intended to protect British businesses that depend on Apple and to compensate losses they had suffered.

An Apple spokesperson said the feature was created to give users a simple way to control whether apps can track their activity across other companies' apps and websites. The spokesperson said Apple is bound by the same requirements as all developers under the system.

Apple disputes the allegations.

Authorities in France, Germany, Italy, Romania and Poland have opened similar probes over the App Tracking Transparency system, which Apple promotes as a privacy safeguard. Apple was fined 150 million euros last year in France and nearly 100 million euros in Italy in similar cases.