France Fines Apple €8 Million for Targeted App Store Ads

[MacRumors]

French regulators today fined Apple €8 million for breaching France's data protection rules with targeted App Store ads. France's National Commission for Informatics and Liberty (CNIL) says that Apple did not get the consent of French iPhone users before using identifiers to present targeted ads in the iOS 14.6 update.

Apple was collecting information and using that data for ads by default, and CNIL says that users had to undertake a "large number of actions" to turn advertising off in the Privacy section of the Settings app. As a result, CNIL ruled that Apple breached Article 82 of the Data Protection Act, leading to a sanction of 8 million euros.

The CNIL services have found that under the old version 14.6 of the iPhone operating system, when a user went to the App Store, identifiers for several purposes, including purposes of customizing advertising ads displayed on the App Store, were by default automatically read on the terminal without collecting consent.

In a statement to Fortune's Patrick McGee, Apple said that it is "disappointed" with the decision and plans to appeal, noting that it only uses its own data for personalized ads.

We are disappointed with this decision given the CNIL has previously recognized that how we serve search ads in the App Store prioritizes user privacy, and we will appeal.

Apple Search Ads goes further than any other digital advertising platform we are aware of by providing users with a clear choice as to whether or not they would like personalized ads. Additionally, Apple Search Ads never tracks users across 3rd party apps and websites, and only uses first-party data to personalize ads. We believe privacy is a fundamental human right and a user should always get to decide whether to share their data and with whom.

Today's fine dates back to a 2021 investigation that CNIL launched after a complaint from the France Digitale association. France Digitale, a lobbying group that represents startups and venture capital firms, said that the iOS 14 update did not comply with European protections for personal data. Apple has since changed how targeted advertising works, and the opt-in and opt-out procedures.

Article Link: France Fines Apple €8 Million for Targeted App Store Ads

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Good but what’s 8M for them? Sanctions should be based on capitals percentage

 

[Red Oak]

#NoTechInMyCountry

#Bureaucracy

 

[0924487]

Apple should move their HQ2 to EU to make them chill. Currently, EU sees that they don't benefit economically from Apple yet Apple makes a lot of money from EU.

 

[steve09090]

And Google were fined $161M in India. Stuff happens. Meh

 

[steve09090]

Good but what’s 8M for them? Sanctions should be based on capitals percentage

That makes no sense at all.

 

[TimHalfCooked]

This is just a blip, Tim is still learning. Not long now, he will be able to target everyone with gambling ads and get away with it.

 

[TheDailyApple]

This is where I’m (uncharacteristically) happy about government intervention. Data and privacy protections are behind the times, and any move to punish companies for collecting data they weren’t given explicit permission to collect is usually good.

 

[cthompson94]

Not to defend Apple, but how is this any different than quite literally any other version of targeted ads? I am not being sarcastic or anything I am genuinely confused unless everyone has just been getting fines and just shrugging it off then okay

 

[apparatchik]

Good but what’s 8M for them? Sanctions should be based on capitals percentage

I agree, 30-50% of capital so Apple learns the lesson, or, better yet, just outright have an appointed bureaucrat take hold of the company on behalf of the nice, decent people of France.

 

[AndiG]

Tim Cook to Google Users: 'You're Not the Customer. You're the Product.'

Times are changing.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

There's a reason Europe has never created an Apple, or Facebook, or Google...

 

[sw1tcher]

Meanwhile, the Irish Data Protection Commission today fined Meta/Facebook $414 million

Meta’s Ad Practices Ruled Illegal Under E.U. Law (Published 2023)

The decision is one of the most consequential issued under the E.U.’s landmark data-protection law and creates a new business headwind for the social media giant.

www.nytimes.com

 

[DFZD]

It feels like not so long ago when Tim used to berate Meta and Google for the very same thing. Its like they opened a wormhole with the whole CSAM thing.

 

[rpmurray]

Shouldn't they be fining Apple 10% of their gross worldwide annual profits? They are in the EU after all.

 

[DFZD]

There's a reason Europe has never created an Apple, or Facebook, or Google...

They did create Audi, BMW and Mercedes however, and also fined them heavily over dieselgate. Learn to accept when something is wrong.

 

[sw1tcher]

There's a reason Europe has never created an Apple, or Facebook, or Google...

Are you suggesting that Europe not having large market-abusing anti-competitive companies such as Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon, etc is a bad thing? 🤣

When large tech companies abuse the system, it threatens current and future innovation

OPINION | Tech sector small businesses and startups already face an array of challenges as small new market entrants.

thehill.com

The Big Tech antitrust report has one big conclusion: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are anti-competitive

"Companies that once were scrappy, underdog startups ... have become the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons," the report says.

www.vox.com

Republicans and Democrats increasingly agree: Big Tech is too powerful

Biden chose a Big Tech critic for the FTC—GOP senators seem happy about it.

arstechnica.com

 

[compwiz1202]

Not to defend Apple, but how is this any different than quite literally any other version of targeted ads? I am not being sarcastic or anything I am genuinely confused unless everyone has just been getting fines and just shrugging it off then okay

Is there something more or do they just mean custom ads. Other than zero ads, I'd rather have ads I might care about.

 

[Wanted797]

Not to defend Apple, but how is this any different than quite literally any other version of targeted ads? I am not being sarcastic or anything I am genuinely confused unless everyone has just been getting fines and just shrugging it off then okay

Because Apple made a big song and dance (and rightfully so) about getting user permission to have targeted ads.

Then they went and abused it for themselves in the App Store.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Data and privacy protections are behind the times, and any

How is this shady of Apple?
Does the EU actually have proof Apple never asked for ads to the end user?
End users see this during activation steps of the iPhone and with App store it may have been months before.
Also did select US iOS users circumvent the prompt by using a USA registered iCloud account?

those that should be dragged by coat-tales LMAO sounds like a mob chant without fully looking into details. Funny how ALL of this NEVER was an issue until Apple became or hit the Trillion $ value mark!!!!

This has nothing to do with privacy or data ... it has to do with the EU asking for money from a USA giant operating in their view of control.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

That makes no sense at all.

Does it not ?

Explain to me why not

 

[Naraxus]

So much for Timmy's boasting that Apple respects users privacy. It's almost to the point where Google is more trustworthy than Apple is

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

Meanwhile, the Irish Data Protection Commission today fined Meta/Facebook $414 million

Meta’s Ad Practices Ruled Illegal Under E.U. Law (Published 2023)

The decision is one of the most consequential issued under the E.U.’s landmark data-protection law and creates a new business headwind for the social media giant.

www.nytimes.com

This is the kind of fines Apple need to face too. Something to make them change, not just through some coins from their pocket and continue on their way.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

This is the kind of fines Apple need to face too. Something to make them change, not just through some coins from their pocket and continue on their way.

SOAK THE RICH!!! GET THEM!! PITCHFORKS!!!!

 

[The_Gream]

Now, I have read the article, and I am trying to figure out how

1: Showing you ads in the Apple App Store from information gathered from you (ether because you didn’t opt-in/opt-out in a setting) is a violation of privacy. I could understand having ads based on someone else’s info being shown to you or your info being used to show ads to someone else being a privacy issue.

2: Who gets the 8 million? Do the French people who got shown ads based on their own personal information get it, or does it go into some large pool of money someone will waste via red tape.

3: When will people learn that fines do not work: Fines do not work, because all the companies do is pass the expense off to the consumer. You wanna fix this issue, you court order all the upper and middle management to do community service projects (40-80 hours per person should do it). If that doesn’t work, you expand it to more people and/or time or prohibit that company from functioning in your area for a set amount of time (piss off share holders enough to vote changes)