借隐私政策获取广告业务优势？波兰对苹果启动反垄断调查

Core Points - The Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has initiated an antitrust investigation against Apple regarding its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) mechanism, which is suspected of providing Apple with an asymmetric advantage in its advertising business [1][3] - UOKiK's investigation is part of a broader scrutiny of Apple's ATT policy by antitrust authorities in Germany, Italy, and Romania, following a €150 million fine imposed by French regulators for Apple's abuse of its market dominance in distributing mobile applications on iOS and iPadOS [3] - UOKiK's chairman, Tomasz Chróstny, emphasized that while ATT claims to protect user data, it may discriminate against third-party developers, as Apple operates as a hardware manufacturer, operating system owner, app publisher, and advertising platform [3][4] Summary by Sections Investigation Details - UOKiK suspects that Apple's custom definition of "tracking" only considers cross-app data sharing as tracking, while data collection within its own apps is labeled as "personalized advertising," which does not trigger the same permission prompts [3] - The prompts for third-party apps are designed with negative connotations, while those for Apple's pre-installed apps are more neutral, potentially misleading users into granting data access to Apple over third-party applications [3][4] Impact on Developers - UOKiK is concerned that this unequal authorization mechanism will limit independent developers' access to user data, reduce the value of their advertising space, and weaken their negotiating power with advertisers, particularly affecting local Polish businesses [4] - The investigation highlights that even though operating system owners can set rules, they must not violate competition laws, raising suspicions that ATT misleads users about privacy protection while reinforcing Apple's dominance in the advertising market [4] Potential Consequences - If found guilty of abusing its market dominance, Apple could face fines up to 10% of its annual revenue in Poland [4]