Apple facing $2.7 billion UK lawsuit over 'unfair' app tracking rules

LONDON, Sept 3 : Apple is facing a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) London lawsuit brought on behalf of app developers over its app tracking rules, with the iPhone maker accused of abusing its power to unfairly impose greater restrictions on third parties.

The lawsuit, filed at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal on Thursday, follows years of regulatory scrutiny over Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature, which was launched in 2021.

Apple has said it introduced that feature to allow users to control whether to grant apps permission to track their activity across other companies' apps and websites.

Ann Pope, a former senior official with Britain's Competition and Markets Authority who is leading the lawsuit, said Apple's policy "resulted in very significant harm to businesses that depend on Apple as a gatekeeper".

"This action is important to protect the rights of British businesses that depend on Apple, to ensure that the rules that Apple applies are fair, and to compensate the losses that British companies have suffered," Pope said in a statement.

Apple, which has previously said its App Tracking Transparency provides "important privacy protections", did not immediately comment.

Regulators in France, Italy, Poland and elsewhere have also probed the App Tracking Transparency framework.

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