WARSAW (Reuters) – Apple faces an investigation in Poland over whether its new rules on privacy and personal data processing for iOS devices violate competition law, Polish antimonopoly watchdog UOKiK said on Monday.
Apple rolled out an update of its iOS operating system in April with new privacy controls designed to limit digital advertisers from tracking iPhone users.
The Polish regulator said Apple’s new rules have significantly reduced the ability of third-party apps to obtain personal data in order to send personalised adverts.
“We want to examine whether Apple’s actions may be aimed at eliminating competitors in the market for personalised advertising services, the objective being to better sell their own service,” UOKiK President Tomasz Chrostny said in a statement.
“We will investigate whether this is a case of exclusionary abuse of market power.”
The regulator said it was investigating the issue, but the proceedings are not directed against a particular company.
Apple did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The European Union’s tech chief Margrethe Vestager has also warned Apple against using privacy and security concerns to fend off competition on its App Store.
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Susan Fenton)
