Conflicting Rules: Is A Privacy Savvy Approach A Threat To Competition?

Can an overzealous implementation of data privacy rules by a dominant firm trigger antitrust investigations with hefty sanctions? Under EU law, this seems to be the case. On December 23, 2025, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) imposed a fine of nearly €100 million on Apple for an abuse of the company's dominant position in the market for the supply to third party developers of platforms for the online distribution of apps to users of the iOS operating system. The decision is based on Article 102 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and sanctions the restrictive nature of the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy, imposed by Apple since April 2021, to third-party developers of apps distributed through the App Store. This case is another example of the increasing overlap between data protection and privacy, on the one hand, and competition, on the other, in recent years.