Monday, December 12, 2022 12:04 pm2 Comments

The top adviser to French data protection authority’s sanction body recommended on Monday that Apple should be hit with a 6 million euro ($6.30 million) fine for alleged breach of privacy rules in iOS 14.

Mathieu Rosemain for Reuters:

The rapporteur, Francois Pellegrini, made his recommendation after an investigation by the authority, itself triggered by a complaint filed last year by lobby group France Digitale. CNIL’s sanction body is free to ignore the rapporteur’s recommendations, but these typically carry a lot of weight regarding the watchdog’s final decision.

The rapporteur, Francois Pellegrini, made his recommendation after an investigation by the authority, itself triggered by a complaint filed last year by lobby group France Digitale.

In the complaint, the lobby, which represents the bulk of France’s digital entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, alleged that iPhone maker Apple’s former operating software, iOS 14, did not comply with EU privacy requirements.

France Digitale argued then that while iPhone owners were asked under iOS 14 whether they were ready to allow installed mobile apps to gather a key identifier used to define campaign ads and send targeted ads, default settings allowed Apple to carry its own targeted ad campaigns without clearly asking iPhone users for their prior consent.

[Pellegrini] added that changes made under a subsequent version of Apple’s operating system, iOS 15, allowed for such prior consent.

MacDailyNews Take: $6.30 million seems excessive for said “breach.” Apple should pay something, but $6.30 would be more like it.

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