Apple faces another iOS privacy lawsuit in Europe
The company is violating the EU’s GDPR rules with its iOS 14 operating system, French startup lobby claims


France Digitale, a French startup lobby, has filed complaint against Apple with the country’s privacy watchdog.
The complaint has been lodged with the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), as reported by Reuters.
The startup lobby stipulates that Apple’s latest operating system, iOS 14, does not comply with EU privacy requirements. It underlines that although iPhone users are asked whether they allow installed mobile apps to gather a key identifier used to define campaign ads and send targeted ones, the default setting allows Apple to carry out its own targeted ad campaigns without explicitly asking iPhone users for their consent.
This may mean that Apple is violating the EU’s GDPR rules as all organisations must ask users if they agree to have some of their data collected via trackers or through other methods.
“It’s a startup version of David versus Goliath, but we are determined,” France Digitale CEO Nicolas Brien told the publication.
IT Pro has contacted Apple for comment.
France Digitale is a startup network containing over 1,500 startups and 100 investors. Its members include BlaBlaCar, Ring Capital and Cityscoot, and it aims to foster startup growth.
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
Apple has faced a number of lawsuits in Europe recently. In November last year, a privacy group filed complaints against the company, alleging that iOS 14 allegedly tracks iPhone user behaviour without consent.
The following month, it emerged that Apple is facing more class-action lawsuits as a consumer watchdog accused the latest iOS update of throttling iPhone performance.
Epic Games also announced it was suing Google and Apple over the removal of its popular game Fortnite from their app stores, but the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled in February to dismiss the lawsuit against Apple.
This decision came just after Epic Games filed a complaint in the EU, accusing the tech giant of breaching competition laws.
Zach Marzouk is a former ITPro, CloudPro, and ChannelPro staff writer, covering topics like security, privacy, worker rights, and startups, primarily in the Asia Pacific and the US regions. Zach joined ITPro in 2017 where he was introduced to the world of B2B technology as a junior staff writer, before he returned to Argentina in 2018, working in communications and as a copywriter. In 2021, he made his way back to ITPro as a staff writer during the pandemic, before joining the world of freelance in 2022.
-
CISA issues warning in wake of Oracle cloud credentials leak
News The security agency has published guidance for enterprises at risk
By Ross Kelly
-
Reports: White House mulling DeepSeek ban amid investigation
News Nvidia is caught up in US-China AI battle, but Huang still visits DeepSeek in Beijing
By Nicole Kobie
-
A journey to cyber resilience
whitepaper DORA: Ushering in a new era of cyber security
By ITPro
-
A new framework for third-party risk in the European Union
whitepaper Report: DORA and cyber risk
By ITPro
-
Kali Linux releases first-ever defensive distro with score of new tools
News Kali Purple marks the next step for the red-teaming platform on the project's tenth anniversary
By Rory Bathgate
-
Microsoft releases scripts to restore shortcuts deleted in faulty Windows Defender update
News However, some users have resorted to creating their own fixes as they’ve encountered Microsoft’s to be problematic
By Zach Marzouk
-
Windows Defender update deletes Start Menu, Taskbar, Desktop shortcuts
News For now, it appears that administrators will have to manually recreate their shortcuts once the issue has been fixed
By Zach Marzouk
-
IBM LinuxONE for dummies
Whitepaper Secure your data, build an open hybrid cloud environment, and realise the cost benefits of consolidation
By ITPro
-
Windows 10 users encounter ‘blue screen of death’ after latest Patch Tuesday update
News Microsoft said it is working on a fix for the issue and has offered users a temporary workaround
By Ross Kelly
-
Apple issues fix for ‘actively exploited’ WebKit zero-day vulnerability
News The update marks the 10th fix for zero-day vulnerabilities this year
By Ross Kelly