Apple should pay €6m to French data watchdog for tracking users without consent, says official
- Reference: 1670936408
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/12/13/apple_should_be_fined_6mn/
- Source link:
The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) launched an investigation into Apple after a complaint filed by France Digitale, a lobby group supporting startups, accused the company of violating EU privacy laws last year.
The release of [1]iOS 14 gave consumers greater control over their personal data. iPhone and iPad Users could stop companies tracking their online activity in apps by changing their privacy settings. The move hurt Facebook as well other smaller businesses and app developers since it prevented them from using the data to serve users with targeted adverts.
[2]
France Digitale, however, claimed Apple's privacy policies did not extend to its own apps and services. In other words, the iGiant tracks its own users without their explicit consent and doesn't give them the choice to opt-out. Now, Francois Pellegrini, a rapporteur working on behalf for CNIL, has sided with the lobby group. He recommended Apple be fined €6 million ($6.3 million) for flouting the European Union's ePrivacy directive.
[3]
[4]
The directive, which came into effect in 2011, states that companies cannot retain a user's location data or cookies without explicit permission. But Apple's iOS 14.6 version broke these rules, although they were later changed in iOS 15, Pelligrini said during a hearing on Monday, [5]according to Reuters.
[6]Apple's anti-ad-tracking iPhone feature took a '$10bn' chunk out of social network revenues
[7]Apple sued for collecting user data despite opt-outs
[8]Meta accused of breaking the law by secretly tracking iPhone users
[9]Apple patched critical flaws in macOS Monterey but not in Big Sur nor Catalina
Apple's head of privacy, Gary Davis, disagreed and said any sanctions ordered by CNIL should be decreased and be made private. "The absence of any seriousness to the breach...means that the amount of the fine should be decreased," he said.
Authorities at CNIL have yet to make a decision on the matter.
A €6 million fine from CNIL pales in comparison with some of the other penalties Apple has faced from French authorities. Apple has been hit with €48.5 million ($51.1 million) for [10]antitrust violations and €25 million ($26.3 million) for [11]throttling older iPhones .
[12]
In October, a €1.1 billion fine ($1.15 billion), the largest of its kind ever issued by the Autorité de la Concurrence - France's antitrust body - against Apple was [13]slashed to just €372 million ($392 million). The fine was decreased after courts dropped the charges claiming Apple conspired with distributors Tech Data and Ingram Micro to fix the prices of some Apple devices.
The Register has asked Apple for comment. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/01/apple_privacy_settings/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y5ivsuMsP90J@qHz4xOWIgAAAIQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y5ivsuMsP90J@qHz4xOWIgAAAIQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y5ivsuMsP90J@qHz4xOWIgAAAIQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.reuters.com/technology/top-advisor-french-data-privacy-watchdog-advises-6-mln-euro-fine-against-apple-2022-12-12/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/01/apple_privacy_settings/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/14/apple_data_collection_lawsuit/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/23/meta_app_tracking/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/06/apple_patched_zerodays_in_macos/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2016/04/06/apple_faces_485m_fine_from_french/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2020/02/08/france_fines_apple/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y5ivsuMsP90J@qHz4xOWIgAAAIQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/07/french_court_apple_penalty/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Business
Isn't CNIL a French government body? The 6 million would be a fine for breaking the rules not compensation. To get compensation would require users to sue Apple.
That said I do wonder what happens to the monies from all these fines issued by such government bodies.
Re: Business
There's a FAQ for that: it goes to the state general budget. The article's title is wrong on that technical point, the CNIL decides the fine, but does not get any money itself. Fines have to be paid to the ministry of economy and finances.
https://www.cnil.fr/fr/cnil-direct/question/sanctions-ou-va-largent-lorsquune-sanction-pecuniaire-est-prononcee-par-la-cnil
Re: Business
Cheers for the info
Re: Business
Wtf is a "watchmink"?
Re: Business
Watch, a [1]mink!
[1] https://i.imgur.com/IlLEWOCh.jpg
Broken model
This is where the problem lies:
"...users could stop companies tracking their online activity in apps by changing their privacy settings."
versus:
"however ... Apple's privacy policies did not extend to its own apps and services ... the iGiant tracks its own users without their explicit consent and doesn't give them the choice to opt-out."
The model for opting out of being tracked is broken. Because it uses a bottom-up approach where you essentially have to say "no" to multiple apps/services, multiple times. How about we just implement a top-level "do not fucking track me" option and anything running on the device has to inherit those settings? Of course that will never happen but this is the loop hole that Apple can use to get away with it. Even if they had something and knew it violated the law they could reasonably claim due to this technical constraint they were looking to address it in a forthcoming version of iOS since the law has to allow companies time to implement such changes.
The current model for this is totally broken.
It's the same with bullshit privacy / cookie policies on multiple websites. Generally speaking my opinion doesn't change depending on the site. So why not let me set this globally, once, and apply it to all sites via browser settings rather than having to configure it per domain/app/service?
Not deterrent enough
€6 million ? Apple must pay more to buy paperclips.
== Bring us Dabbsy back! ==
> The move hurt Facebook as well other smaller businesses and app developers since it prevented them from using the data to serve users with targeted adverts.
It didn't hurt this app developer or his employers. It only harmed those developers with lesser ethics who are willing to work for scum like FB and advertising agencies.
Business
So let's get this straight - you get tracker and some watchmink gets your compensation? Great.
It's like getting mugged and some organisation taking your insurance money.
Can anyone set up such a watchmink or is it only for the privileged?