Poland has opened another antitrust investigation into App Tracking Transparency, to determine if Apple misled users about privacy while also creating an advantage over third-party app developers.

The introduction of App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14.5 was intended as a way to allow users to decide whether to allow app developers to track their activity. While the intention was to increase the user's privacy, Apple's implementation has once again prompted a government regulator to probe the situation.

On November 25, Poland's UOKiK has started another investigation into App Tracking Transparency, and whether Apple had restricted competition in mobile advertising. Reuters reports that, to the anti-monopoly regulator, ATT may have limited advertisers' ability to collect user data for advertising purposes while simultaneously favoring Apple's ad program.

This is not the first time that Poland has looked into ATT rules. In December 2021, the regulator held a similar probe following criticism from advertisers. It's not clear what that complaint determined, or if it is still ongoing.

Regardless, in the new complaint, the logic is that Apple had a competitive advantage since its own apps were not subject to ATT rules, but third-party apps did have to deal with ATT. Since Apple didn't visibly ask for consent for its first-party apps in the same way, there is a presumption that Apple's rules only applied to other companies.

This is despite Apple's repeated insistence that it doesn't use the same kinds of collected data in its own apps and services for marketing purposes, as well as its stance on privacy in general. In short, Apple apps don't use the data, so it doesn't pop up a dialog box asking the user if the app can use the data.

There is also the argument that, in setting up an account with Apple, users are providing blanket consent to the company. Implementing ATT on its own apps would therefore be a waste of time, since that consent was already granted.

"We suspect that the ATT policy may have misled users about the level of privacy protection while simultaneously increasing Apple's competitive advantage over independent publishers," said UOKiK president Tomasz Chrostny. "Such practices may constitute an abuse of dominant position."

In response, Apple said that it wasn't surprising that the data tracking industry continued to oppose ATT at all. "Now intense pressure could force us to withdraw this feature, to the detriment of European consumers," it said in a statement.

Apple added that it will work with the regulator on the matter.

European resistance

The Polish probe is the latest problem that App Tracking Transparency has caused to the company, and follows other similar actions in Europe. UOKiK said that regulatory counterparts in other countries, including Germany, Italy, and Romania, are looking into ATT policies.

In March, France's Authorite de la Concurrence concluded a two-year investigation by fining Apple $162.4 million, for similar apparent double standards. However, the regulator also declined to order Apple to making changes to the program, allowing it to continue to function in its current state.

The increased lobbying efforts in Europe could lead to Apple pulling App Tracking Transparency completely in Europe, Apple warned in October.

If the UOKiK does determine Apple's ATT is abusing Apple's dominant position, Apple faces a fine of up to 10% of its annual turnover in Poland.