Key Takeaways
- Apple is facing a £2 billion lawsuit filed at London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal on behalf of app developers, Reuters reported.
- The claim accuses Apple of abusing its power by imposing stricter tracking requirements on third-party developers than on its own services through its App Tracking Transparency feature.
- The action is led by Ann Pope, a former senior official at the Competition and Markets Authority, who said the policy caused “very significant harm” to businesses reliant on Apple.
- Apple’s tracking framework has already faced regulatory scrutiny across Germany, France, Italy and Poland.
Apple is facing a legal challenge in Britain, with a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) claim filed at London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal accusing the company of unfairly restricting rival app developers.
The lawsuit targets Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature, launched in 2021, which lawyers say imposed tougher rules on third parties than Apple applied to its own advertising business.
The case is led by Ann Pope, a former senior competition regulator, adding to years of scrutiny Apple’s tracking framework has faced across Europe, including its ongoing dispute with UK regulators over App Store rules.
What the Lawsuit Alleges
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency lets iPhone users decide whether apps can track their activity across other companies’ apps and websites.
According to Reuters, lawyers argue the feature imposed especially strict requirements on third-party developers, handing its advertising business a competitive edge it wouldn’t otherwise have had.
The suit was filed at London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, fresh off clearing Microsoft’s £2.1 billion cloud licensing trial, and seeks compensation for app developers claiming lost revenue from platform self-preferencing.
Layered on top of its existing CMA clash over App Store steering rules, Apple now faces a double-barreled legal threat in Britain.
Who’s Behind the Claim
Ann Pope, who leads the case, said Apple’s policy “resulted in very significant harm to businesses that depend on Apple as a gatekeeper,” per Reuters.
In a statement reported by InvestorsHub, Pope said the action aims to protect British businesses reliant on Apple, ensure its rules are applied fairly, and compensate companies for losses.
The claim is structured as a UK collective action, meaning any damages awarded could be shared among a wider pool of affected developers rather than a single claimant.
The legal challenge adds to a strained climate where the US threatens the UK with “big tariffs” if it does not scrap its Digital Services Tax on US tech firms.
A Pattern of Scrutiny Across Europe
Apple has previously defended App Tracking Transparency as providing “important privacy protections” and had not immediately commented to Reuters on the new lawsuit.
Investing.com notes the feature has drawn regulatory attention beyond Britain.
German regulators recently probed whether Apple was abusing its market dominance, forcing the tech giant to tweak how developers use personal data for targeted ads.
Regulators in France, Italy, and Poland have launched similar investigations.
This wave of European probes marks a clear shift in how watchdogs view built-in privacy features.
As Apple harmonises its tracking prompts across the EU, the UK lawsuit highlights growing concern over whether these privacy rules double up as competitive barriers.
Source: Apple facing $2.7 billion UK lawsuit over ‘unfair’ app tracking rules
