Apple threatens to disable app tracking transparency feature in Europe under pressure from advertising groups
November 4, 2025455 ViewsRead Time: 2 minutes
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Apple announced that it is considering stopping the activation of the "App Tracking Transparency" feature in several European countries, following increasing pressure from entities and companies that economically rely on tracking user behavior across apps and websites for marketing and advertising purposes.
Apple stated that this disablement could become "mandatory" if the ongoing pressure campaigns in Germany, Italy, and other countries within the European Union continue.
The feature that changed the rules of the digital advertising market
The transparency feature allows users, from the first time they open the app, to accept or reject tracking their activity outside the app.
After 5 years of its launch, it has become one of the most influential privacy tools in the digital advertising market; which has led many advertising companies – including "Meta" – to publicly criticize it.
Allegations of monopoly and rising legal regulation
The feature has become the subject of investigations by competition protection authorities in several European countries.
The Federal Cartel Office in Germany stated in a preliminary conclusion that Apple may have designed the tool in a way that imposes restrictions only on its competitors, while the same restrictions do not apply to it as a service provider.
Apple, for its part, confirmed that it does not collect data from other providers' apps, but authorities believe that the company is still able to collect data from within the "App Store" and "Apple ID" and connected devices.
Privacy amidst a battle of lobbies and an incomplete legal framework
Apple says it will try to defend the existence of the feature in Europe as a central tool for protecting users.
However, its future in the region will depend on the outcome of the conflict: if the advertising lobby succeeds in imposing its influence, the European user may lose one of the most important means of controlling their personal data.
