When Apple introduced its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework over five years ago, forcing apps distributed on Apple technology to ask for explicit permission to use the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) and track user behaviour, there were a number of recurrent complaints from the advertising world.
App owners have had to collect consent through Apple’s own popup, which asks for permission “to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies” — wording which some tech companies have argued steers users away from opting in. This popup has also sat separately from those apps’ own privacy permissions mechanisms, creating a confusing and multi-layered consent layer which again risked putting off audiences. And some have accused Apple of forcing harsher standards on third-party apps than it applies to its own properties, which haven’t used the same consent mechanism.
These complaints have been picked up by a number of antitrust regulators, who have investigated whether Apple has imposed unfair conditions on third-party app owners, and whether ATT benefits Apple’s own business. Some have argued that Apple’s own search advertising business within the App Store would have benefited from the move, encouraging more companies to run campaigns with Apple itself rather than across third-party apps.
Germany’s antitrust authority, the Bundeskartellamt, is one such regulator. And this morning it announced it has secured commitments from tech giant Apple to change the way its App Tracking Transparency Framework (ATTF) operates in Germany.
Maximising consent rates “not the aim”
The Bundeskartellamt has agreed two key binding commitments with Apple. The first is that Apple will align its consent prompts for its own services and those of third-party apps much more closely. This, the regulator says, will disincentivise Apple from forcing discouraging wording into these prompts. App publishers and content providers will also be given more scope within this prompt to make the case for personalised advertising, for example by outlining its importance for their offerings and business models.
Secondly, app publishers will be allowed to combine the consent prompt mandated by Apple with other consent requests which they’re required to show under data protection law. This should avoid the problem of users facing a barrage of privacy notifications the first time they open up an app.
Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt, emphasised that the competition body’s aim is not specifically to encourage higher opt-in rates for apps which want to track users for advertising purposes. “We want to ensure that users can make a free and informed decision,” he said. “Users who do not wish to allow their data to be used for personalised advertising must be able to make an equally free and informed decision as users who intend to consent to such data use. The new consent requests are aimed at better enabling users to make this decision.”
The news will certainly be welcomed by some in the mobile ad world. But five years on from ATT coming into force, the industry has already had to find ways to work around Apple’s restrictions. And since these rules will only apply in Germany, it’s unclear how much the Bundeskartellamt’s ruling will move the needle for large international app publishers.
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