Apple is set to change the way iPhone and iPad users are asked to allow apps to use their personal data, after German competition regulators found that the company’s rules gave its own apps more favourable treatment.
Apple will revise its App Tracking Transparency system following the conclusion of a years-long investigation by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office.
The regulator said Apple’s existing system treated third-party developers differently from Apple’s own services when asking users for permission to track their activity for targeted advertising.
The changes are expected to make the consent process more consistent across apps, potentially affecting how millions of users decide whether to allow tracking on their devices.
Apple introduced App Tracking Transparency in 2021, requiring apps to ask users for permission before tracking their activity across other apps and websites. The move was presented as a major privacy protection, but it quickly became a source of tension between Apple and companies that depend heavily on targeted advertising.
Germany’s competition authority spent years looking into how Apple handles your data. They found that Apple’s tracking rules heavily favored its own apps. When an Apple app wanted your data, the pop-up was friendly. When a third-party app asked, the screen was full of discouraging language.
Now, Apple has to fix it.
The company has four months to redesign those pop-ups. The new screens must be visually and linguistically neutral. No more scary warnings just because a rival company is asking for permission. Third-party developers will also be allowed to combine Apple’s tracking request with their own standard privacy prompts.
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These changes are not just for Germany. Apple confirmed the new rules will apply across almost all European Union countries. A trustee will monitor the company for the next seven years to make sure they actually follow through.
For app developers, this is a massive win. Companies like Meta rely on accurate user data to show targeted ads. When Apple rolled out the original tracking rules, it crushed ad revenue for smaller developers who could not get people to click “yes.”
France and Italy already fined Apple hundreds of millions of euros over these exact screens. The tech giant finally had to bend.
The pop-ups will still be there. You will still have to make a choice about your privacy. But at least the screen will not look like it is trying to scare you just to protect Apple’s bottom line.
