France’s antitrust regulator has fined Apple 150 million euros ($162 million) for abusing its dominant position in the distribution of mobile applications for iOS and iPad devices between April 2021 and July 2023.
The French Competition Authority said on Monday it found that the objective of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework requiring users to consent to data collection by third-party applications was not in itself open to criticism. But it ruled that the “way in which it was implemented was neither necessary nor proportionate to Apple’s stated objective of protecting personal data.”
The European Commission is expected to fine Apple and Meta this week for violating the EU’s digital competition rules, thrusting Big Tech into the escalating trade war between the United States and the European Union.
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However, while the threats from Washington are a factor, they are not the most important consideration when setting fines, according to a person familiar with the Commission's thinking. Other factors, particularly the novelty of the regulation, are more important, they said.
There are a growing number of services that give out disguised email addresses and relay any messages to your actual address. Experts say this can be a powerful tool to safeguard privacy and security.
You can recycle them through e-waste programs, donate them to someone still using an older device, or repurpose them creatively, allowing you to say goodbye to your old Lightning cables more responsibly without adding to the world's growing tech trash problem.
I’m just struggling to feel anything other than apathy at the prospect of watching Apple’s top brass either admit their failings or, more likely, act like nothing went wrong. One outcome is depressing and boring; the other depressing and infuriating. Neither sounds like a fun way to spend an evening (as it will be here in the U.K.).
Remember when Apple deemed that the MobileMe brand was so damaged that they had to change it to iCloud? Will we see a new branding for Apple Intelligence? Or will Apple keep Apple Intelligence to the features it can deliver, and create a new brand for the other hallucination-proned stuff instead?
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