Apple says it might switch off App Tracking Transparency in parts of Europe. The company frames the fight as a privacy issue for users, not a turf war with advertisers.
Apple told the German Press Agency that lobbying across Germany, Italy, and other countries threatens the feature. The company warned that regulators could push it to withdraw ATT, hurting consumer privacy, and said it will keep pressing authorities to let it offer the tool.
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App Tracking Transparency arrived in 2021 to give you a clear choice. You decide whether apps track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites for advertising or data sharing. Apple describes the control simply and links it to a system permission prompt you can decline.
Germany and Italy turn up the pressure
Germany’s Federal Cartel Office issued a preliminary assessment in February that raised competition concerns about ATT’s current design. The watchdog questioned whether Apple holds its own services to the same rules it imposes on third-party apps. Apple faces stricter scrutiny in Germany after courts confirmed its designation as a company of “paramount cross-market significance.”
Italy’s competition authority is running a parallel probe. A decision is expected in December, setting up a second test of Apple’s approach in a major European market. Apple says it proposed fixes, but the remedies under discussion would weaken ATT in practice.
France’s case raises the stakes
France’s competition authority fined Apple 150 million euros in March over how it implemented privacy controls tied to advertising. Regulators said Apple’s rules disadvantaged others in mobile advertising while Apple’s own services faced fewer frictions. The decision did not require Apple to change ATT, but it signaled mounting European skepticism.
Shutting ATT would mean
If Apple disables ATT in parts of Europe, you lose an on-device opt-in gate that currently blocks cross-app tracking without your approval. Advertisers would regain broader visibility, and free apps that lean on targeted ads would claim relief. Privacy groups would likely push back hard, since user choice would shrink in practice.
Apple positions ATT as a simple control that limits tracking across services you do not use. Regulators argue that the control should bind Apple’s ecosystem under the same terms. That disagreement now drives the standoff.
Apple says it wants to keep ATT available. Regulators want equal rules for everyone. Your privacy setting sits in the middle.
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