Apple hit with $2.7B UK lawsuit over app tracking rules

Apple ↗ 0.93% is facing a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) collective legal claim filed Thursday at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal on behalf of thousands of UK app developers who allege the company's App Tracking Transparency framework unfairly disadvantaged their businesses while shielding Apple's own advertising operation from the same restrictions.investing+1

The lawsuit, brought by ATT Collective Action Limited, is led by Ann Pope, a former senior director for antitrust at the UK's Competition and Markets Authority. Pope argues that when Apple rolled out ATT in April 2021, it required third-party developers to obtain explicit user consent before tracking activity across apps, while Apple's own advertising services gathered comparable data without clearing the same bar.mobilegamer+1

A Fairness Argument, Not an Anti-Privacy One

The claimants have been careful to frame the case around competitive asymmetry rather than opposition to privacy itself. "Privacy is an important protection for consumers, but it should be applied fairly and in a way that ensures businesses of all sizes can compete on a level playing field," Pope said in a statement. "It cannot become a reason for digital platforms to play by one set of rules while forcing app developers to play by another."thenews+1

The claim alleges that the restrictions cut into ad-reliant developers' revenue by undermining their ability to measure which advertisements produced paying customers, while Apple's own advertising business grew from $1.5 billion to roughly $7.4 billion between 2020 and 2025.mobilegamer

Apple has maintained that ATT delivers "important privacy protections" for users and had not issued a public response to the new claim at the time of filing.investing+1

Mounting Regulatory Pressure Across Europe

The UK action follows years of regulatory scrutiny of ATT on the continent. French and Italian authorities have fined Apple a combined £211 million over the policy. In Germany last month, Apple agreed to change how its tracking-consent prompts are displayed to settle a self-preferencing probe by the Bundeskartellamt, with those changes expected to extend across the EU. Poland and Romania also have open investigations.thenextweb+2

The case will be heard under the Competition Appeal Tribunal's opt-out collective regime, meaning every qualifying UK developer is automatically included unless they actively leave. The claim must still be certified before it proceeds, and Apple is expected to contest that stage. Law firm Hausfeld, representing the claimants, previously won a £1.5 billion case against Apple at the same tribunal over App Store commissions in 2025.mobilegamer+1