Germany’s Bundeskartellamt has secured commitments from Apple to revise its App Tracking Transparency prompts to address how consent is presented and how data requests for personalized advertising are handled, marking a formal settlement in the seven-year framework.

This action follows similar ATTF proceedings in France and Italy and signals broader EU alignment, with Italy also fining Apple €98 million and the German decision potentially shaping design across member states.

The updated prompts will comply with a neutral EU-wide approach, applying only to users located in the European Union and presenting identical content across users and developers.

The investigation began in June 2022 and the German Federal Court of Justice affirmed Apple’s dominant position finding in 2025, with the commitments now binding to end the case.

The proceeding focuses on competition law rather than data protection, and authorities coordinated with data protection bodies to avoid overlap.

The reforms remove the word Tracking, adjust button placement so Allow appears on top, and shift to a simpler Allow/Reject choice to encourage informed consent without bias.

The resolution is a settlement rather than ongoing litigation, with Apple agreeing to the changes as part of the commitments.

The reform could reshape how apps, including those from major players like Meta Platforms, collect user data for targeted advertising and affect app development strategies and advertising revenue.

The regulator stressed that the goal is free and informed user choice, ensuring those who opt out can still make a truly independent decision about data use for personalized advertising.

Apple must implement the changes within four months, with the reforms lasting seven years and overseen by an independent trustee to monitor compliance.

The case underscores ongoing regulatory scrutiny of tech giants’ privacy systems, their impact on competition, and user choice.

The EU-wide rollout focuses on users currently within the European Union, ensuring uniform presentation and language-neutral content for the ATT prompts.