Italy: Announced AGCM Investigation into Apple regarding alleged abuse of dominant position in app market

On 11 May 2023, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) announced the opening of an investigation into Apple over the alleged abuse of its dominant position in the iOS app market. The AGCM aims to evaluate the adopted privacy policy for third-party apps, which AGCM claims is more restrictive than the one Apple uses for its own apps. Furthermore, the AGCM aims to investigate Apple's consent request prompts, claiming that consenting is made easier than denying consent by design. The AGCM will assess the quality of the data Apple provides to third-party developers and advertisers and whether it puts them at a disadvantage. The AGCM claims that the discriminatory conduct could reduce the advertising revenues of third-party advertisers, prevent the entry into the market of new competitors in the app development and distribution market, and benefit Apple's own apps, mobile devices and iOS operating system.