
German regulator accuses Apple of data consent design bias
A German regulator has accused Apple of designing data consent pop-ups in a way that unfairly favors its own applications.

A German regulator has accused Apple of designing data consent pop-ups in a way that unfairly favors its own applications.
Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature, introduced with iOS 14.5, requires explicit user consent for app tracking, reinforcing Apple's privacy stance. This change significantly impacted Meta, which reported a $10 billion dent in sales due to altered digital advertising data collection.

Tim Cook's 15-year tenure as Apple CEO is scrutinized for its privacy contradictions. While Cook built Apple's pro-privacy brand by resisting FBI demands in 2015, suing NSO Group, and launching App Tracking Transparency, his compliance with Chinese and Russian data laws—transferring user data to state-backed servers and removing apps like WhatsApp and Signal—has sparked criticism from privacy advocates who argue Apple's privacy marketing doesn't match its operational reality.