On 11 May 2023, the Italian Antitrust Authority ("ICA") opened an investigation against Apple Inc., Apple Distribution International Ltd and Apple Italia S.r.l. to ascertain the existence of the alleged abuse of a dominant position in the market for online app distribution platforms for users of the iOS operating system. According to the ICA, Apple has allegedly adopted a privacy policy, for third-party app developers only, that is more restrictive than the one the company applies to itself. The policy concerns the features of the prompt to acquire users' consent to track their web browsing data and the tools adopted to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Such conduct, according to the ICA, would be likely to cause a decline in the advertising revenues of third-party advertisers, to the benefit of Apple, reduce the entry into and/or prevent competitors from staying in the app development and distribution market, and benefit Apple apps and, consequently, Apple's mobile devices and iOS operating system.
Originally published by May, 2023
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