Apple may face a fine of 6 million euros for violating EU privacy rules

According to the Taiwanese media Business Times, Francois Pellegrini, the chief adviser of the French data protection agency, proposed on Monday that Apple should be fined 6 million euros for violating EU privacy regulations.

The final ruling is made by the sanctioning body, the French Freedom of Information Commission (CNIL), and these recommendations often have a major impact on the regulator's final decision.

In his speech, Pellegrini said that Apple's previous iOS 14.6 system version did not properly ask users for prior consent when collecting personal data, thus violating EU privacy rules.

It is reported that France Digitale, a French lobbying group, filed a complaint last year alleging that iPhone maker Apple's previous system, iOS 14, did not comply with EU privacy regulations, which triggered the investigation. The Apple iOS 14 system settings allow Apple to execute targeted advertisements without obviously asking users and obtaining consent.

Sanctions body CNIL did not say when it would issue its ruling.

France previously fined Apple 1.1 billion euros for anti-competitive behavior, which was later reduced to 372 million euros ($366 million). In addition, the Brazilian court imposed a fine of 100 million reais (about 19 million US dollars) on Apple because Apple sold iPhones without chargers and determined that this was an "abuse of market advantage."