Apple has been sued for $2.7 billion over App Tracking Transparency rules

Brett Jordan/Unsplash Add Engadget on Google: Preferred Source Google Discover Apple is facing another battle over its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy. A former official with the Competition and Markets Authority — the UK's antitrust watchdog — has filed a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) lawsuit on behalf of app developers. According to Reuters, the suit accuses Apple of placing stricter rules on external developers than its own services, thus giving the company's advertising ecosystem an edge. ATT debuted in 2021, ostensibly to give users more control over how much of their activity app developers can track across other apps and websites. The company told Reuters it was "bound by the exact same requirements as all developers." However, regulators across Europe including in France, Italy and Poland have investigated ATT. Germany's competition regulator, the Federal Cartel Office, last month determined that Apple was favoring its own apps over those from external developers. It said the ATT pop-ups Apple used for its services "had the potential to encourage users to give their consent, whereas they had the potential to discourage consent for third-party apps." As such, the company agreed to make some changes to how ATT works in the European Union. That follows the French Competition Authority fining Apple €150 million ($175 million at current rates) over ATT last year.