In Italy, Apple is unhappy. The Antimonopoly Authority of the country believes that the privacy policy in force on iOS may violate the competition law.
The main claim is that Apple allegedly applies stricter rules to third-party developers than to itself. Starting from April 2021, developers are required to request permission from application users to access the IDFA identifier, which allows them to collect personal information for advertising. In return, the company offered to use the SKAdNetwork framework, but it could not become a full-fledged replacement for IDFA. At the same time, according to the agency, Apple does not limit itself in this way.
The Italian authorities will be able to fine Apple up to 10% of the annual turnover if they prove that the company has abused its position in the application market.
Italy is not the first country that decided to study the situation with the privacy policy on iOS. In particular, a month ago, the media reported that a similar investigation was being prepared to be launched in France.