Antitrust Complaint Filed in Germany Over Apple's Incoming App Tracking Transparency Requirement

Nine industry associations representing companies like Facebook and publisher Axel Springer today filed an antitrust complaint with Germany's competition regulator over Apple's incoming App Tracking Transparency requirement, according to the Financial Times. This follows a similar complaint filed by advertisers in France last year.

In the complaint, the industry associations reportedly predicted a 60% fall in advertising revenues for app developers, as they believe the requirement will make it harder for third parties to gather the data they need to place ads.

Starting with iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5, which will reportedly be released later today, Apple will be requiring apps to receive a user's permission to track their activity for targeted advertising purposes. Apple says this App Tracking Transparency requirement is designed to give users control and transparency in regards to their personal data, and previously outlined privacy-preserving ad measurement alternatives.

SKAdNetwork, for example, lets advertisers know how many times an app was installed after ads for it were seen, without any user or device data being shared. Likewise, Private Click Measurement allows advertisers to measure the impact of ads that lead users to a website while minimizing data collection using on-device processing. Apps can use Private Click Measurement starting with iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5.

Starting today, all iPhone and iPad apps submitted to the App Store must be built with Xcode 12 and the iOS 14 SDK or later, and must adhere to the App Tracking Transparency requirement to collect permission to track users.