Apple Faces $270 Million Lawsuit Over App Tracking Transparency Policy

Huo Xing Finance reports that on September 3, Apple faced a class-action lawsuit in London seeking damages of up to £2 billion (approximately $2.7 billion). The lawsuit was filed today at the London Competition Appeal Tribunal, brought by app developers represented by former senior official of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, Ann Pope. The core allegation is that Apple’s “App Tracking Transparency” (ATT) feature, introduced in 2021, imposed stricter restrictions on third-party developers than on its own services, granting Apple an unfair competitive advantage in its advertising ecosystem. Ann Pope stated that Apple’s policy has caused “significant harm to businesses that rely on Apple as a gatekeeper.” Since its launch, the ATT feature has remained a focal point for global regulators for years. Apple’s official stance is that the feature is designed to give users control over whether apps may track their activities across other companies and websites. However, plaintiffs argue that the policy is enforced with double standards—third-party apps must obtain explicit consent through strict pop-up prompts, while Apple’s own personalized ads and services bypass equivalent restrictions. This lawsuit represents the latest legal challenge to Apple’s ATT policy and is the first major private antitrust suit in the UK market against Apple’s app ecosystem, following regulatory scrutiny by the EU, the U.S., and multiple other countries.