Finance
Polish antitrust watchdog investigates Apple over privacy policy
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on November 25, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on November 25, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Poland's UOKiK investigates Apple's privacy policy for potentially restricting competition in mobile advertising, focusing on the App Tracking Transparency framework.
WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland's anti-monopoly office UOKiK is investigating whether Apple is restricting competition in the mobile advertising market through its privacy policy, it said on Tuesday.
The regulator suspects that the tech giant's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, introduced in iOS 14.5 and later versions, could limit third-party apps' ability to collect user data for personalised ads while favouring Apple’s own advertising service.
"We suspect that the ATT policy may have misled users about the level of privacy protection while simultaneously increasing Apple’s competitive advantage over independent publishers," UOKiK President Tomasz Chrostny was quoted as saying in a statement.
"Such practices may constitute an abuse of dominant position."
If confirmed, Apple could face a fine of up to 10% of its annual turnover in Poland.
Apple said the ATT framework was created to offer consumers a way to control whether companies can track their activity, helping them to safeguard their privacy.
"It is no surprise that the data tracking industry continues to oppose our efforts to give users back control over their data, and now intense pressure could force us to withdraw this feature, to the detriment of European consumers," it said in an emailed statement.
"We will work with the Polish competition authority to ensure Apple can continue to offer users this valuable privacy tool."
Antitrust authorities in Germany, Italy, and Romania are also investigating Apple's ATT policies, UOKiK said, adding that in March, a French authority imposed a fine of 150 million euros ($172.86 million) on the company.
($1 = 0.8678 euros)
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
App Tracking Transparency (ATT) is a feature introduced by Apple that requires apps to obtain user permission before tracking their data across other apps and websites for advertising purposes.
An antitrust investigation examines whether a company is engaging in anti-competitive practices that may harm consumers or restrict competition in a market.
A dominant position refers to a company's ability to control a significant share of a market, allowing it to influence prices, supply, and competition.
A fine is a monetary penalty imposed by regulatory authorities on companies found to be violating antitrust laws or engaging in anti-competitive behavior.
Personalized advertising refers to targeted marketing strategies that use data about individuals' preferences and behaviors to deliver tailored advertisements.
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