The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) initiated an investigation in connection with the change in the privacy policy and the processing of personal data on Apple devices. The Office wants to check whether Apple’s actions can serve to eliminate competitors on the market of personalized advertising services in order to better sell its own Apple Search Ads service, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) reported.
“When using mobile devices, we very often share information about our Internet activity, including personal data, which is then used to present us with personalized advertisements. Information about us may be collected – and passed on to other entities – both by application developers and authors of operating systems. The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) initiated explanatory proceedings in connection with the change in the privacy policy and the processing of personal data on Apple devices. This applies to all products with operating systems: iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, tvOS 14.5 and their later versions, according to an UOKIK announcement.
On the basis of the analyzed change, the obligations regarding the need for applications to obtain consent to track user activity have been extended. In practice, this means that on iOS operating systems, the possibility of obtaining personal data for sending personalized advertisements by third-party applications has been significantly limited. However, this does not mean that information about users is no longer collected and they do not receive personalized advertising. At the same time, there were doubts as to whether the rules established by Apple were not aimed at promoting its own advertising service Apple Search Ads, which could violate the competition rules, explains the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.
“The actions of digital giants are a challenge for antitrust offices around the world. In our conduct we want to check whether Apple’s actions can serve to eliminate competitors in the personalized advertising services market in order to better sell its own service. market power of an exclusive nature,” commented the President of the Office, Tomasz Chróstny.
Explanatory proceedings are conducted in the case, not against specific entrepreneurs. The aim of the office’s activities is to check whether competition may have been restricted in this case, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection reserves the right to.
Source: UOKiK and ISBnews
