Germany: Federal Cartel Office opened investigation into Apple App Tracking Transparency Framework

On 14 June 2022, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) announced the start of an investigation into Apple for alleged self-preferencing practices in its new "App Tracking Transparency Framework". While all applications on Apple's App Store need to obtain user consent for data tracking, the FCO alleges that the newly introduced framework only applies to applications not made by Apple (third-party applications). This leads to Apple being able to combine and use data collected from across services. According to the FCO third-party apps should receive the same opportunities and regulations and Apple should preemptively implement pro-competitive frameworks.