The legal claim is led by ATT Collective Action Limited, whose director, Ann Pope, is a former senior director for antitrust at the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.
Apple is to face a £2bn collective legal action at the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) brought on behalf of thousands of app developers over the fairness of its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework.
Apple’s ATT policy requires third-party apps to obtain user permission twice before they can track iPhone and iPad users across company apps and websites, but does not apply the same requirement to Apple’s own first-party apps.
The legal claim argues that the “double consent requirement for third-party apps is harmful to developers, whose business model relies on the sale of advertising space, as well as to advertisers and advertising intermediation platforms”.
The claim’s organisers said: “The implementation of ATT on 26 April 2021 fundamentally altered how many developers provide their services, but these changes were not implemented fairly.”
They argue that “Apple abused its power and discriminated against app developers by implementing ATT unfairly and without proper consultation, imposing stricter requirements on third-party app developers than on its own services and leaving UK app developers unable to adapt their business models in time to avoid significant losses”.
The US tech giant, according to the claim, applies “less burdensome requirements to its own advertising and data collection activities than those imposed on third-party app developers”, giving Apple’s advertising ecosystem a competitive advantage while imposing additional restrictions on businesses that depend on its App Store.
“While Apple introduced ATT as a privacy measure designed to give users greater control over their data, it was one rule for third parties that depend on Apple’s ecosystem and another rule for Apple”, according to the claimants, who allege that the policy “caused significant losses across the UK app development sector because of the reduced value of advertising and the increased cost of attracting new users”.
“Privacy is an important protection for consumers, but it should be applied fairly and in a way that ensures businesses of all sizes can compete on a level playing field,” said Pope, an economist and competition law specialist.
“It cannot become a reason for digital platforms to play by one set of rules while forcing app developers to play by another.
“The ATT policy was implemented without the transparency and objectivity you would expect from a company in Apple’s position, and it resulted in very significant harm to businesses that depend on Apple as a gatekeeper.”
Apple’s response
In a statement provided to SiliconRepublic.com, Apple described the lawsuit’s allegation that ATT gives the company a competitive advantage as false, and stated that a number of authorities have previously voiced support for the ATT framework – including the CMA and the European Commission.
“At Apple, we believe privacy is a fundamental human right, and we created App Tracking Transparency to give users a simple way to control whether apps have permission to track their activity across other companies’ apps and websites,” a spokesperson for the company told SiliconRepublic.com.
“Apple is bound by the exact same requirements as all developers under ATT, and this feature has been embraced by our customers and praised by privacy advocates and data protection authorities around the world, including in the UK. We disagree with these claims, and will continue to defend strong privacy protections for our users.”
Last month, Germany’s competition authority ruled that Apple must change ATT consent prompts over concerns that the system deliberately produces different consent experiences for non-Apple competing apps, services and advertising activities.
Under the ruling, Apple must redesign its consent pop-ups for third-party apps. This includes the removal of discouraging language and symbols, as well as ensuring that pop-ups are visually and linguistically neutral.
The recommended changes, which Apple agreed to implement, are expected to apply across most other EU countries.
In December, Italy’s competition authority fined Apple more than €98.6m after finding that the company abused its “super-dominant position” in the app distribution market through ATT, while France’s competition watchdog fined the US tech giant €150m over ATT in April 2025.
Last month, Apple’s Big Tech rival and parent company of Google Alphabet agreed to pay £260m in order to bring an end to a class action lawsuit at the CAT over whether or not it has abused its market position to impose unfair fees on developers creating apps for use with its Android OS.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
Updated, 5.22pm, 3 September 2026:This article was amended to include a statement from Apple that was provided to SiliconRepublic.com.
Tim Barnwell is a sub-editor and reporter at Silicon Republic
