3rd Sep 2026 17:32
(Alliance News) - App developers on Thursday brought forward a GBP2 billion lawsuit against Apple Inc over the company's app tracking practices.
Shares in the Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker traded up 1.6% at USD330.08 each on Thursday afternoon in New York.
The lawsuit, filed at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal, accuses Apple of unfairly imposing greater restrictions on third party developers, according to Reuters.
The claims centre around the company's App Tracking Transparency feature launched in 2021 and, in particular, a feature that allows users to control whether to grant apps permission to track activity across other companies' apps and websites, Reuters noted.
Claimants are arguing that the feature imposes stricter requirements on third-party developers than on Apple's own services.
The lawsuit is led by former Competition and Markets Authority official Ann Pope, who said the policy "resulted in very significant harm to businesses that depend on Apple as a gatekeeper," according to Reuters.
"This action is important to protect the rights of British businesses that depend on Apple, to ensure that the rules that Apple applies are fair, and to compensate the losses that British companies have suffered," Pope said.
In response, Apple said App Tracking Transparency was created "to give users a simple way to control whether apps have permission to track their activity", and that it is "bound by the exact same requirements as all developers."
Last month, Apple agreed to change rules on how app developers can use personal data for targeted advertising, after the German competition authority accused it of abusing its market power, following criticism from Meta Platforms Inc.
By Aidan Lane, Alliance News reporter
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