Apple facing £2bn UK lawsuit over app tracking rules

Apple is facing a £2 billion lawsuit over its App Tracking Transparency framework at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal, filed Thursday on behalf of thousands of UK app developers.

Apple is facing a £2 billion lawsuit over its App Tracking Transparency framework at London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, filed Thursday on behalf of thousands of UK app developers.

The entire case centres on a sole allegation claiming that Apple made third-party developers seek users’ permission to track them twice but never had the same policy for its own applications.

On April 26, 2021, ATT was rolled out as a privacy initiative where external applications needed to gain users’ consent to protect their data, as well as another consent from Apple designed to track users through applications of other companies.

No such restriction has ever been applied to Apple’s own advertising and data collection.

The action is led by ATT Collective Action Limited, whose director, Ann Pope, previously served as senior director for antitrust at the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.

She argues the policy “resulted in very significant harm to businesses that depend on Apple as a gatekeeper” and says developers relying on ad revenue absorbed both reduced ad value and higher costs of acquiring new users.

Pope framed the case as a fairness question, saying, “It cannot become a reason for digital platforms to play by one set of rules while forcing app developers to play by another.”

The UK’s claim comes after many years of regulatory actions in other places. Fines from France and Italy have exceeded £200 million due to ATT. Germany’s competition authority urged Apple to make changes to its policy in August 2026. Poland and Romania have also initiated their investigations.

Apple has previously described ATT as delivering “important privacy protections” but had not issued a public response to the new UK claim at the time of filing.