Apple Faces $2bn UK Lawsuit Over Its App Tracking Rules

Apple is facing a £2bn ($2.7bn) lawsuit in London over claims that its app tracking rules put third-party developers at an unfair disadvantage while giving Apple’s own advertising business an advantage.

On Thursday, a formal complaint was filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal on behalf of app developers. The target is Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature, which launched in 2021.

Apple has long maintained that the feature was built to give users control over their data. It sounds good on paper. But lawyers bringing the case argue the rules were applied unevenly. They claim the restrictions hit third-party developers much harder than Apple’s own services, quietly giving the iPhone maker a massive advantage in the advertising space.

Ann Pope, a former senior official with Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority who is leading the charge, didn’t mince words.

She said Apple’s policy “resulted in very significant harm to businesses that depend on Apple as a gatekeeper.”

Pope added that the lawsuit is about more than just principle. “This action is important to protect the rights of British businesses that depend on Apple, to ensure that the rules that Apple applies are fair, and to compensate the losses that British companies have suffered.”

Apple did not immediately comment on the new filing, though it has previously defended the tracking rules as providing “important privacy protections.”

The pressure is building globally. Regulators in France, Italy, and Poland are watching closely. Just last month, Apple agreed to change how developers can use personal data in Germany after facing similar heat.

For now, the courtroom in London will decide if a feature sold as a shield for everyday users was actually used as a weapon against competitors. The outcome could force a quiet but massive rewrite of how the App Store actually works.