“Balancing privacy & platform power in the mobile ecosystem: The case of Apple’s ATT” –Julia Krämer

PLAMADISO Talk by Julia Krämer (Erasmus School of Law) – 26 February 2026 || Organized by the Research Group “Digital Economy, Internet Ecosystem & Internet Policy” @Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society   Title “Balancing #privacy and #platformpower in the mobile ecosystem: The case of Apple’s #AppTracking Transparency” Abstract In 2021, Apple shook up the AdTech industry by introducing the iOS 14.5 update, which not only changed the default access to an app's advertising identifier but also restructured the process of user consent within mobile apps through the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework. Given that Apple dominates one of the main mobile operating systems (iOS), and one of the major mobile app store (Apple App Store) in the European Union (EU), the question arises too what extent such a powerful private party is able to govern privacy standards at this scale. While the introduction of the ATT has already raised competition concerns, its impact on privacy and data protection within the EU legal order remains largely unexplored. Therefore, this article investigates how the ATT affects EU privacy and data protection compliance and explores the extent of the General Data Protection Regulation (#GDPR) in restricting the privacy regulator role of app stores and mobile operating systems. While the ATT limits certain privacy risks by limiting disclosures to third-parties, Apple is redefining core privacy concepts such as tracking. This may lead to the emergence of “walled gardens”, closed ecosystems which are managed and curated by their owners, which may alter the structure of the mobile ecosystem in general. The paper contributes to the overall discussion about the impact of private sector-led initiatives and powerful private actors in setting privacy standards. Link to the paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...   Short Bio Julia Krämer is a PhD researcher in Data Protection Law and Empirical Legal Studies at Erasmus School of Law in Rotterdam. She recently defended her PhD, which examines how app stores and operating system providers influence the GDPR compliance of mobile apps. More about Julia Krämer Website: https://juliakraemer.github.io/ Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?... Stay tuned for future events: https://plamadiso.weizenbaum-institut.de Follow us on X: https://x.com/JWI_Digi_Econ Follow us on LinkedIn:   / plamadiso   Find all PLAMADISO Talks in our playlist:    • Plamadiso Talks   The Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society: https://weizenbaum-institut.de/