Italy’s competition authority has fined Apple €98 million ($115 million) for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the mobile app market, marking the latest regulatory challenge for the US tech giant in Europe.
The Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) said its investigation found that Apple imposed “restrictive” privacy rules on third-party app developers through its App Store. The authority argued that these rules, introduced under Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, were applied unilaterally and harmed the commercial interests of Apple’s partners.
ATT, launched in 2021, requires apps to request user consent before tracking activity across other apps and websites. While marketed as a privacy safeguard, critics have argued that it gives Apple a competitive edge by limiting the ability of third-party developers to gather user data for advertising, while promoting Apple’s own ad services.
This is not the first time Apple has faced fines in Europe over ATT. Earlier in 2025, French antitrust regulators imposed a €150 million penalty for similar reasons. Authorities across the continent are increasingly scrutinizing Apple’s App Store policies, signaling growing concern over the company’s market influence.
The AGCM emphasized that its ruling aims to ensure fair competition and protect the rights of developers relying on the App Store ecosystem, highlighting ongoing tensions between privacy rules and competitive practices in the tech industry.
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