Apple will change how third-party app developers obtain user consent for personalised advertising on iPhones and iPads after Germany’s competition authority raised concerns that its App Tracking Transparency framework gave Apple’s own services more favourable treatment.
The Bundeskartellamt, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, said on Monday that Apple had offered binding commitments to address the concerns, bringing a competition proceeding that began in June 2022 to an end.
Under Apple’s App Tracking Transparency system, apps must seek permission before tracking users across other companies’ apps and websites for advertising or sharing information with data brokers.
German investigators, however, argued that Apple’s own offerings were not subjected to the consent process in the same way as third-party applications.
The regulator said this created potential competitive disadvantages for developers competing with Apple within its ecosystem.
Bundeskartellamt President Andreas Mundt said Apple could impose privacy protections above the legal minimum but could not establish ecosystem rules that treated its own services more favourably than competitors.
“It is key that personal data and privacy are protected effectively when using apps,” Mundt said.
He added that users must be able to make a “free and informed decision” about whether their data should be used for personalised advertising.
Under the new commitments, Apple will bring consent prompts for its own services and third-party apps more closely into line.
The company will also remove potentially discouraging language and symbols from predefined consent prompts used by third-party developers.
App publishers will gain greater flexibility to combine Apple’s consent request with separate consent requirements under data-protection laws, or connect the requests in a clearer way for users.
Mundt stressed that the objective was not to increase consent rates for personalised advertising.
“We want to ensure that users can make a free and informed decision,” he said.
Apple has four months from receiving the decision to implement the agreed changes. The commitments will remain in force for seven years and will be monitored by an independent trustee.
The German investigation followed a 2022 proceeding examining whether Apple’s tracking rules favoured its own services or hindered competing businesses.
Germany had previously determined that Apple held a position of paramount significance for competition across markets. The Federal Court of Justice confirmed that assessment in March 2025.
The latest action adds to growing regulatory pressure on Apple over its App Tracking Transparency framework.
France’s competition authority fined Apple €150m in March 2025, arguing that the implementation of ATT was disproportionate and created an unnecessarily complicated consent process for users of third-party apps.
Italy’s competition authority followed with a €98.6m fine in December 2025, finding that the policy restricted competition and disadvantaged third-party developers.
Apple’s ATT framework was introduced as a privacy measure, giving users greater control over whether applications can track their activity across other companies’ apps and websites.
But regulators in several European markets have increasingly focused on whether the way Apple implements those privacy protections creates an uneven playing field for competing app developers.
The German decision seeks to address that concern by requiring greater neutrality in the consent process, rather than encouraging users to accept personalised advertising.
