According to 9to5Mac, Poland’s competition regulator UOKiK has accused Apple of misleading users about the privacy protections offered by its App Tracking Transparency feature. The regulator specifically claims Apple gives itself access to user data whether or not users consent, allowing the company to sell targeted ads on its own platforms like the App Store. UOKiK President Tomasz Chrostny stated they suspect ATT policy may have misled users about privacy protection while increasing Apple’s competitive advantage. Apple has denied these accusations and says intense pressure could force it to withdraw the privacy feature from EU users entirely. This marks the latest development in ongoing conflicts between Apple’s privacy approach and European laws designed to prevent dominant companies from abusing their market position.
Apple’s defense and the misunderstanding
Here’s the thing about this accusation – it’s based on a fundamental misunderstanding that keeps popping up. Apple doesn’t show the tracking consent dialog for its own apps, but that’s not because they’re secretly tracking users. They’ve actually designed their system so their own apps don’t even have the option to use that tracking identifier. So technically, they don’t need to ask permission for something they’re not doing. But look, when the same confusion keeps happening, maybe Apple should just start showing the dialog for its own apps anyway. Would that really hurt? It would certainly make their position clearer to regulators and users alike.
The bigger EU vs Apple battle
This isn’t really about one feature or one misunderstanding. This is part of a much larger pattern where EU competition law clashes with Apple’s walled-garden approach. The EU says if Apple has access to data that improves its products, it needs to make that same data available to competitors. We saw this play out recently with Apple Watch – the company removed the Wi-Fi history feature from EU models rather than share that capability with competing smartwatch makers. So now we’re seeing the same dynamic with advertising data. Apple’s basically saying “We can protect privacy with our own data access, but we can’t trust third parties to do the same.” The EU’s response? “That’s not your decision to make.”
What’s really at stake here
If Apple follows through on its threat to remove ATT from EU users, that would be a massive step backward for privacy. Remember, ATT has been incredibly effective – when apps have to ask permission to track, most people say no. The advertising industry hates it for exactly that reason. But now we’re in this weird situation where privacy protections themselves are becoming a competitive weapon. Apple’s privacy stance gives them a market advantage, and regulators are questioning whether that advantage is fair. The irony is thick here – we could lose actual privacy protections because of arguments about competitive fairness. Does anyone really win in that scenario?
Where this is all headed
I think we’re going to see more of these clashes, not less. As companies like Apple position themselves as privacy champions, regulators are increasingly asking “But at what cost to competition?” The fundamental tension between privacy and open competition isn’t going away. Apple’s likely to keep choosing the nuclear option – removing features rather than opening them up to competitors. And honestly, who benefits from that? Certainly not users, who get fewer features and potentially weaker privacy protections. The whole situation feels like a game of regulatory chicken where consumers are stuck in the middle. Follow @9to5mac for ongoing coverage, or check their YouTube channel for deeper analysis.
