Update: Apple Faces $115.7 Million Italian Regulator Fine Over Alleged 'Abuse' of 'Dominant Position'

(Updates with Apple's response in the fifth paragraph.)

Apple (AAPL) has been fined roughly 98.6 million euros ($115.7 million) by Italy's competition authority over alleged "abuse" of a "dominant position," the regulator said Monday.

The Italian regulator carried out the probe with the European Commission, other local competition authorities, and the Italian Data Protection Authority, and confirmed the App Tracking Transparency policy's restrictive nature, according to the Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato.

App Tracking Transparency is a privacy requirement devised by the tech giant in April 2021 on third-party developers of apps distributed through the App Store.

"The Authority established that the terms of the ATT policy are imposed unilaterally and harm the interests of Apple's commercial partners. The terms were also found to be disproportionate to the achievement of the company's stated data protection objectives," according to the AGCM.

"We strongly disagree with the ICA's decision, which disregards the important privacy protections ATT provides in favor of ad tech companies and data brokers who want unfettered access to users' personal data," an Apple spokesperson said in a statement e-mailed to MT Newswires. "We will continue to defend strong privacy protections for our users as we appeal."