Apple Fined $8.5 Million After Breaching Data Protection Act – Here’s How They Responded

A press release by CNIL details the events that led to Apple being fined. In 2021, the organization received a complaint from an Apple user accusing the company of showing personalized ads on the App Store. These ads were served on an iOS device that ran an older version (iOS 14.6) of the company’s smartphone operating system.

The CNIL acted on the complaint and launched an investigation, at the end of which they deduced that Apple did not obtain consent from users before it collected their data. Making things worse, the regulator also found that Apple used this data to serve targeted ads. The CNIL also alleges that Apple gathered data collection consent from users via a settings menu in which the option to grant them permission was already checked, resulting in the said $8.5 million fine.

While Apple is yet to issue an official statement in connection with this development on its website, an Apple spokesperson responded to questions from journalists Patrick McGhee. The company expressed its disappointment with CNIL’s decision and confirmed that the company intends to appeal the decision. The company also reiterated its stance regarding privacy, and continues to maintain that they prioritize user privacy over everything else.

Interestingly, this is not the first time that Apple has had a legal showdown with French regulators and lawmakers. In December 2022, a French Court fined the company $1 million (via Reuters) for imposing what the court described as “abusive commercial clauses” on French app developers to access the Apple App Store.