Italy fines Apple 10 mn euros for water resistance claims 'deemed to mislead consumers'

Italy’s competition authority on November 30 said that it had fined the American multinational technology company Apple Inc 10 million euros ($12 million) for “misleading and aggressive commercial practices”. The antitrust watchdog AGCM said in a statement that it has taken the latest move against Apple Inc for the claims it made about the water-resistant properties of various iPhone models. It also said that the American tech giant failed to make it clear that the specific feature exists only under specific conditions.

Italian Antitrust Authority, “According to the Authority, however, the messages did not clarify that this property is found only in the presence of specific conditions, for example during specific and controlled laboratory tests with the use of static and pure water, and not in the normal conditions of use of the devices by consumers.”

The authority also targetted Apple Inc for a disclaimer that the warranty for the smartphones did not cover the damage caused by liquids and added that it was “deemed to mislead consumers”. AGCM also cited promotional claims that were related to the specific models of the company including iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11pro and iPhone 11 pro Max.

Further, the Italian antitrust authority also said that US tech giant’s refusal to provide warranty service when the iPhone models were ultimately damaged by liquids in normal conditions amounted to “an aggressive commercial practice”. It also said in a statement, “For these reasons, the authority has decided to impose penalties totalling 10 million euros on Apple Distribution International and on Apple Italia.”

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Apple defends delay in privacy feature

Meanwhile, just earlier this month, Apple Inc. slammed Facebook and other internet giants for their ad-targeting practices in response to a letter questioning a decision by the iPhone maker to delay a new privacy feature. Previously, human rights and privacy groups, including Electronic Frontier and Human Rights Watch, had written to Apple, asking why it was delaying the introduction of a feature that would force apps to receive explicit opt-in from iPhone users before tracking them. In response, Apple criticised Facebook for trying to “collect as much data as possible,” and defended its decision to delay the feature, which was added as part of the company’s iOS 14 in September.

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