Apple faces £2 billion UK lawsuit over app tracking rules

A £2 billion ($2.7 billion) claim filed Thursday at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal accuses the iPhone maker of running its App Tracking Transparency system in a way that burdens third-party developers far more heavily than its own services.

"Apple's policy has resulted in very significant harm to businesses that depend on Apple as a gatekeeper," Ann Pope, a former senior official at Britain's Competition and Markets Authority who is leading the action, said in a statement. "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."

The case, brought on behalf of app developers, centers on the App Tracking Transparency feature Apple launched in 2021. The company says the system lets users control whether apps can track their activity across other companies' apps and websites. Lawyers behind the suit argue Apple applied the rules more strictly to third-party developers than to its own services, giving its advertising ecosystem a competitive advantage. Apple, which has defended the feature as providing "important privacy protections," did not immediately comment.

The lawsuit is the latest escalation in years of European regulatory pressure on the tracking framework. Germany's competition authority accused Apple of abusing its market power after complaints from Facebook-owner Meta, publishers, advertisers and app developers whose business models depend on advertising tracking. Apple agreed last month to change how app developers can use personal data for targeted advertising, a concession that followed the German watchdog's finding of abuse.

Regulators elsewhere have reached similar conclusions. France's antitrust authority fined Apple €150 million over the privacy tool in March 2025, Italy's watchdog fined the company over alleged abuse of a dominant position with its App Store in December 2025, and Poland opened an investigation into the framework in November 2025. Each probe has centered on the same complaint: that a tool framed as a privacy safeguard operates as a gatekeeping lever that favors Apple's own advertising business.

For Apple, the direct financial exposure is modest relative to its cash reserves, but the precedent risk is not. A ruling against the iPhone maker in London could open the door to further developer-led class actions across the UK and EU, where regulators have already signaled hostility to how Apple governs its app ecosystem. The case also touches the services segment that has become Apple's key growth engine; any forced loosening of tracking rules could reshape how third-party advertisers reach iPhone users and, by extension, how much of that ad spend flows through Apple's own network.

The tribunal has not set a hearing date, and the case is likely to run for years given the complexity of the competition-law claims. Apple's broader European legal calendar remains crowded, with the company still contesting separate App Store commission rulings that have already drawn fines in Italy and drawn scrutiny in Poland. The outcome in London will be watched closely by developers across the region who have argued that Apple's dual role as platform operator and advertising competitor leaves them structurally disadvantaged.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.