BERLIN, March 10, 2026, 14:11 CET
On Tuesday, German publishers and advertisers amped up their demands on Apple, calling on the country’s cartel office to block the tech giant’s proposed tweaks to App Tracking Transparency—known as ATT—and instead hit the company with a fine. ATT forces apps to get iPhone users’ permission before tracking them across third-party apps and sites. Still, the trade groups argue that Apple’s planned changes would leave it holding too much sway over advertising data in the mobile ad business. 1
The stakes are climbing. Germany hasn’t decided if Apple’s December proposal is sufficient, and a ruling against the tech giant could draw heavier European attention to a feature Apple touts as boosting privacy. France already hit Apple with a 150 million euro ($162.4 million) fine over ATT last March, marking the tool’s first antitrust penalty. 2
Apple rolled out ATT as part of iOS 14.5. Responding to pushback from Germany, the company said in December it would tweak its consent prompts—aiming for more neutrality between its services and those from third parties—and streamline how developers get user approval for ad data usage. 3
Germany’s media and advertising associations pushed back, arguing the issue runs deeper. Bernd Nauen, who leads the German Advertising Federation, claimed Apple still acts as a “data gatekeeper”—controlling both who can tap into ad data and the routes companies use to connect with consumers. 1
Apple insists that ATT gives users a straightforward decision about app tracking across third-party apps and sites, sticking to its stance that the feature complies with privacy law. The company calls privacy a basic human right and says it plans to keep backing this tool. 4
Tensions have simmered for over a year. Back in February 2025, Germany’s cartel office brought charges against Apple, with chief Andreas Mundt arguing the framework put rival publishers at a disadvantage—he claimed it made gathering user data for ads “far more difficult.” Meta has joined publishers, advertisers, and app developers in criticizing the move, all of them dependent on tracking. 5
This case lands in the middle of Germany’s broader effort to rein in Big Tech, following last year’s civil court decision that put Apple in the same competition spotlight as Alphabet and Meta. That ruling—Apple now labeled as having “broad cross-market significance”—hands regulators extra leverage to scrutinize its conduct under German law. 6
But a fine isn’t a given. Germany’s regulator has signaled it will hold off until after wrapping up its consultation on Apple’s December proposals—meaning anything from scaled-back demands to an outright rejection or even no significant penalty is still on the table. German antitrust law allows fines as high as 10% of a company’s yearly global sales if violations are found. 2
Apple shares traded up roughly 0.9% in premarket action at 9:11 a.m. EDT, before the U.S. session began. Investors didn’t appear to be bracing for an immediate financial impact from the German challenge.
