France's data protection authority is currently examining whether Apple's advertising practices comply with data protection regulations in the European Union.
In a December 17 note obtained by Politico viewed , the French competition authority's Commission for Information Technology and Freedom (CNIL) issued an opinion on a dispute between Apple and four organizations representing the French advertising ecosystem. The note suggests that Apple's own advertising practices for first-party platforms such as the App Store and Apple News could run afoul of the GDPR. CNIL explains:
Apple's advertising processing requires consent if it involves reading or writing data on the user's device. Apple's practices indicate a lack of consent.
The case pitting Apple against the advertising group revolved around whether the company's upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature was anti-competitive.
Apple could be on the wrong side of the regulations
On March 17, Both the CNIL and the French competition authority sided with Apple in this case. According to the internal CNIL document signed by the agency's president, Marie-Laure Denis, the privacy feature is in line with the GDPR. However, it seems that the CNIL believes Apple's own advertising practices are not. The internal CNIL note was carefully worded, as the group was only asked to inform and not to investigate the case. Nevertheless, it suggests that Apple may be on the wrong side of the regulations. More specifically, it suggests that Apple does not get consent to collect user data.
Apple responds: Content of the response is unknown
Apple, for its part, argues that it doesn't need to because it doesn't engage in tracking. The CNIL suggests that Apple's definition of tracking may be too narrow. If it is confirmed that Apple is required to obtain consent and it isn't properly obtained, "this would be a serious violation of the regulations," the CNIL states in the document. According to Politico, Apple responded to the issues raised by the CNIL in January. The content of Apple's response is currently unknown. The CNIL is currently investigating the matter in connection with the aforementioned ATT complaint filed by French advertisers. Further developments will therefore remain interesting. (Photo by mixmagic / Bigstockphoto)
