29 Negotiations with publishers on related rights,a fi rst in Europe Value created by the content produced by the media and distributed by the platforms is already being shared in France, under the impetus of the Autorité. In April 2020, the of such data is prompting a wide-ranging to be anticompetitive in itself and that Autorité issued interim measures against debate on its role in business strategies it was, in principle, a legitimate exercise Google, ordering it to negotiate "in good and the application of competition law to of Apple’s commercial policy. This case faith" with press publishers for the trans- these strategies. Today, various compa- raised the question of the compatibility fer of their content protected by the law on nies are generating significant revenues of this Apple prompt with the GDPR. The related rights, within a limited timeframe based on a data-driven business model. Autorité found that the additional mea- (Decision 20-MC-01 of 9 April 2020, for Working out why, how and to what extent sure designed to provide additional user more details on the decision, see p.53). data can become an instrument of market protection - without in itself replacing the power is an important concern for compe- consent that may be obtained by other The situation in France is being closely tition authorities around the world (see, actors for the collection and mining of observed in Europe, as France was the first in this regard, the joint study by the Auto- their personal data - did not constitute country to transpose the Related Rights rité de la concurrence and the Bundes- an unreasonable practice by Apple that Directive and to implement the reform. It kartellamt, 2016). was not necessary and proportionate to will undoubtedly have an impact at the pursue the objective of protecting the international level at a time when many The question of the link between com- personal data of iOS product users. The countries around the world are demanding petition law and the protection of consu- Autorité sought the opinion of the CNIL that the giants such as Google and Face- mers/users is also a key issue. As part of in this case. book pay for the use of press publishers’ its remit to protect the economic public content. The Autorité continues to monitor order, the Autorité necessarily has to take The Autorité is continuing its investigation the situation closely and will complete the into account privacy regulation. As such, it on the merits of the case in order to verify remaining ongoing procedures in 2021. works in close collaboration with the CNIL that Apple has not implemented a differen- on these issues. tiated treatment of the collection of user Data, privacy and competition consent depending on whether it relates Personal data has become a major issue In March 2021, the Autorité issued a deci- to Apple’s own services or third-party in the digital economy. The increasing col- sion, at the interim measures stage, on services, which could constitute a form lection, processing and commercial use the issue of whether measures put in of discrimination or "self-preferencing" place by Apple to enhance user privacy (Decision 21-D-07of 17 March2021, for could be considered an abuse of a domi- more details, seep.64). In parallel, the CNIL nant position. Apple planned to imple- has also received a complaint from France ment a feature that would require the Digitale, which accuses Apple of not res- user’s permission in order for them to pecting European regulations on the pro- 1st be "tracked" by third-party sites. At the tection of personal data and of applying stage of the examination of the request different rules to third-party app publi- for interim measures, the Autorité consi- shers than those that apply to the use of dered that this strategy did not appear its own apps. FRANCE IS THE FIRST EUROPEAN … COUNTRY TO APPLY THE REFORM ON RELATED RIGHTS REINVENTING OUR MEANS OF ACTION