A former UK antitrust director has filed a $2.7 billion class action suit claiming that Apple launched its App Tracking Transparency privacy feature to disadvantage developers and benefit itself.
The new suit has been filed with the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), which is already investigating Apple over a $4.1 billion iCloud suit. The new suit over App Tracking Transparency (ATT) has been put in front of CAT by Ann Pope, a former senior director at the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.
"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 in a statement to AppleInsider. "It cannot become a reason for digital platforms to play by one set of rules while forcing app developers to play by another."
ATT works by displaying a notice the first time a user opens an app. That notice prompts them about tracking by advertisers and if the user chooses not to allow it, the developer cannot use their data for these purposes.
It's an option that has a significant financial impact on app developers. During the first six months after ATT's launch in 2021, social media companies reported that their revenues were down almost $10 billion.
Pope's argument is that Apple has imposed this burden on third-party app developers while not presenting the same ATT prompt for its own apps. Apple has not commented on the new suit, but its position on this before has been that its own apps do not track users for advertising purposes.
Apple has been here before
Apple's stance that it does not track user data and so does not need to ask for permission to do so is correct. Nonetheless, that has not stopped regulators around the world objecting to ATT and in some cases fining the company.
The information provided to AppleInsider by the new suit's lawyers notes that France, for example, has fined Apple over ATT. It does not mention that France has not required Apple to make any changes, though.
This suit is more hoping to follow the model set by Italy, which fined Apple $115 million in December 2025 and demanded changes to ATT. It's not clear whether Apple has yet implemented what appear to be ill-defined and sweeping changes, but there have since been much more specific demands from Germany.
Germany's regulator actually agrees with Apple that ATT is fair, but it has asked for further refinements.
What happens next
There is no published schedule yet for when CAT may hear the case against Apple. Whenever it does, Apple will doubtlessly repeat its correct claims about not tracking user activity in its apps.
The fact that Germany has demanded changes and that both France and Italy have fine Apple over ATT, though, means that precedent may not be on the company's side. That doesn't mean that Apple is at risk of the $2.7 billion fine the new suit wants, though, as it's not clear how that figure was derived.
What is more clear is that the case is unlikely to be heard for some time. The current iCloud antitrust case in front of CAT, for instance, is not scheduled to be heard until late 2028.
