As the preparation for Apple’s upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature continues, LinkedIn has announced that it will stop using the “Identifier for Advertising,” or IDFA data. This means that the LinkedIn app will not be required to show the App Tracking Transparency prompt to users.
App Tracking Transparency is coming in the “early spring,” and it will require that developers ask permission before tracking users across other apps and centers. The IDFA identifier is what allows for this cross-platform and cross-app tracking, so by removing it, developers can improve their apps’ privacy and avoid Apple’s scrutiny.
LinkedIn announced in a blog post today that it will stop collecting IDFA data altogether in response to App Tracking Transparency. The company says that this change could affect features such as the LinkedIn Audience Network, Conversion Tracking, and Matched Audiences. Ultimately, however, it predicts “limited impact” to campaign performance.
We have decided to stop our iOS apps’ collection of IDFA data for now. Although this change affects the LinkedIn Audience Network (LAN), Conversion Tracking, and Matched Audiences, we expect limited impact to your campaign performance, and don’t foresee major changes required for your campaign set-up.
While we will regularly re-evaluate our collection of IDFA, we are committed to privacy-by-design principles that deliver value to our customers and provide a trusted experience for our members. Our plan is to leverage our first-party data to help marketers reach buyer groups, which are critical for success in B2B marketing, so they can achieve better value for their campaigns across all LinkedIn placements.
This approach is similar to Google, who announced in January that it will also stop using a device’s unique IDFA rather than show the App Tracking Transparency prompt. Twitter has said that it believes the privacy features will help “level the playing field,” but Facebook has not backed down and continues to criticize Apple’s user-protection features.
Read more:
- Facebook’s new PR blitz touts benefits of personalized ads ahead of Apple’s privacy feature
- Apple rebuffs Facebook criticism, says iOS anti-tracking features are about ‘standing up for our users’
- EFF sides with Apple, slams Facebook’s criticism of iOS 14 privacy features as ‘laughable’
- Google apps will stop using tracking ID that would require upcoming iOS 14 permission prompt
Author: Chance Miller
Source: 9TO5Google
