Apple faces $162 million fine in France for Ad tracking violations

According to regulators, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature has unfairly squeezed out competitors in the digital ad space.

Despite the fine, Apple dodged a bigger blow; the French watchdog did not order any changes to the ATT system, a small victory for the iPhone maker.

This marks the first time any antitrust authority has penalized Apple over ATT, a tool designed to give iPhone and iPad users control over which apps can track their activity. While Apple champions ATT as a win for user privacy, critics, including advertisers, publishers, and digital networks, argue it unfairly benefits Apple while hammering smaller businesses.

The French competition authority agreed, stating that Apple’s system was “neither necessary nor proportionate” to its stated goal of protecting user data.

Regulators noted that smaller publishers, who rely on third-party data for revenue, were hit hardest by the change. In addition to the fine, Apple must display the decision on its website for seven days.

Though significant, the penalty pales in comparison to the €1.8 billion fine the European Commission dropped on Apple last year for stifling music streaming rivals on its App Store, a case motivated by complaints from Spotify. Apple responded to Monday’s decision with disappointment but pointed out that it is not required to make any immediate adjustments to its privacy tool.

Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump declared in a memo that the DMA, which lays out rules for how tech companies should operate on the European market, would face scrutiny and could lead to reciprocal tariffs.