UK legal claim seeks £2bn from Apple over App Tracking Transparency

• ATT was introduced in April 2021 and has faced regulatory scrutiny across Europe.
• France and Italy have fined Apple approximately £211m over its ATT practices.
• Germany has recently secured ATT changes.
• The case seeks compensation for losses suffered by UK app developers.

Apple is facing a £2 billion ($2.7bn) collective action in the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal on behalf of thousands of app developers over its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework.

The claim alleges that Apple implemented ATT unfairly and discriminated against third-party developers by imposing stricter requirements on them than on its own advertising and data collection activities.

ATT Collective Action Limited has brought the case on behalf of affected developers. Its director Ann Pope is a former senior director for antitrust at the UK Competition and Markets Authority.

Regulatory scrutiny

The claim argues that ATT’s introduction in April 2021 reduced advertising revenues and increased user acquisition costs for developers. It claims that between 2020 and 2025, Apple's ad revenues grew from $1.5bn to $7.4bn.

The CMA has previously noted reports of significant declines in advertising income and developers shifting towards subscriptions and in-app purchases.

Apple’s ATT framework has also faced investigations in France, Italy, Germany, Poland and Romania. France and Italy have imposed fines of approximately £127 million ($171.7m) and £84m ($113.6m) respectively.

The German regulator recently secured changes to Apple’s ATT policy requiring third parties to be treated more similarly to Apple’s own apps.

The UK claim seeks compensation for historic losses suffered by developers following ATT’s implementation.