ROME (AP) — Italy’s antitrust authority fined Apple 98.6 million euros ($116 million) on Monday after determining that operating one of its privacy features restricted App Store competition. Apple said it would appeal the sanction.
Apple abused its dominant position with its App Tracking Transparency, ATT, policy, which forces apps to obtain permission before collecting data to target users with personalized ads, the antitrust authority said in a statement.
The company rolled out ATT starting in April 2021 as part of an update to the operating system powering the iPhone and iPad. While the feature was designed to tighten up privacy, it faced criticism from Big Tech rivals that it would make it harder for smaller apps to survive without charging consumers.
The authority didn’t criticize the policy per se, but the fact that the Apple system requires third-party app makers to ask users for consent twice in order to comply with Europe’s strict privacy rules.
“As a result, such double consent requirement is harmful to developers, whose business model relies on the sale of advertising space, as well as to advertisers and advertising intermediation platforms,” the authority said.
The authority said that the double consent required was “disproportionate” to the stated goal of data protection.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company said it strongly disagreed with the finding and would appeal it, saying it disregarded the privacy protections of the policy “in favor of ad tech companies and data brokers who want unfettered access to users’ personal data."
“At Apple, we believe privacy is a fundamental human right, and we created App Tracking Transparency to give users a simple way to control whether companies can track their activity across other apps and websites," Apple said in a statement. “These rules apply equally to all developers, including Apple, and have been embraced by our customers and praised by privacy advocates and data protection authorities around the world."
The Italy antitrust finding is similar to one by the French antitrust watchdog, which in March fined Apple 150 million euros ($162 million) over the consent feature.
FILE - An Apple logo adorns the facade of the downtown Brooklyn Apple store on March 14, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose in afternoon trading on Wall Street Monday at the start of what’s expected to be a quiet holiday week.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and is just below the all-time high it set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 253 points, or 0.5%, as of 3:10 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5%.
The broader market eked out a slight gain last week in what has been a choppy month. Technology companies, especially those focused on artificial intelligence, have been the main force behind the market's oscillations. The direction of AI-related stocks will likely determine whether the market closes out December with gains or losses.
“If a Santa Claus rally does kick in this year, St. Nick’s gift bag will likely need to be full of positive tech sentiment,” wrote Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.
The gains on Monday were broad, with technology companies and banks leading the way. JPMorgan Chase rose 1.8% and Nvidia rose 1.3%.
Uber rose 2.5% and Lyft rose 2.3% after announcing plans to bring robotaxi services to London next year.
Paramount Skydance rose 3.6%. The company sweetened its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery with an “irrevocable personal guarantee” from Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison. He is putting up billions of dollars to back the deal as part of the latest move in Paramount's bidding war against Netflix.
Warner Bros. Discovery rose 3.5% and Netflix fell 1.3%.
Dominion Energy slipped 4.1% after the Trump administration said it is pausing leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects. They include Dominion's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
Gold and silver touched records and oil prices jumped after the U.S. Coast Guard said it was pursuing another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean.
Gold prices rose 1.9%, and it is hovering around $4,460 per ounce, adding to their consistent gains throughout the year. Silver prices were up about 1.6%.
Crude oil prices in the U.S. rose 2.4% to $58.01 a barrel. Prices for Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 2.6% to $62.07 a barrel.
Treasury yields edged higher in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.17% from 4.15% late Friday.
Asian markets rose, and European markets slipped.
Markets in the U.S. will close early on Wednesday for Christmas Eve and remain closed on Thursday for Christmas. The short week for trading includes several economic reports that could shed more light on the condition and direction of the U.S. economy.
On Tuesday, the government releases the first of three estimates on gross domestic product, a reflection of how the broader U.S. economy fared in the third quarter. On Wednesday, the Labor Department will release its weekly data on applications for jobless benefits, which stands as a proxy for U.S. layoffs.
The Conference Board offers up results from its December consumer confidence survey on Tuesday as well.
The upcoming reports follow a mix of updates last week that show inflation remains elevated and consumer confidence has diminished over the last year. Overall, the job market has been slowing and retail sales have weakened.
The ongoing and wide-ranging U.S. trade war has been hanging over consumers and businesses already squeezed and worried by higher prices. The mix of stubbornly high inflation and a weaker jobs market has also put the Federal Reserve in a more difficult policy position moving forward.
The Fed has cut its benchmark interest rate at its last three meetings, despite inflation that has remained stubbornly above its 2% target. Fed officials have grown increasingly concerned about the slowing job market, pushing them to trim rates. Cutting interest rates to bolster the economy because of a weak job market could fuel inflation, however.
Wall Street is mostly betting that the Fed will hold steady on interest rates at its meeting in January.
Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed to this story.
James Denaro works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Trader Jonathan Mueller works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader William Lawrence works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
