How to Annoy Advertisers With IOS 14 Settings
Of all the big tech companies, Apple has arguably the best privacy policy. And with iOS 14, Apple is making another big privacy-focused iOS update. With a new OS update released this fall, users can hide their device’s Advertiser ID (IDFA) from apps. And if you do, advertisers wo n’t like it.
Your IDFA is a device-specific identification number that advertisers use to track your activity and serve targeted ads on the apps you use . Every Apple device has a unique IDFA, and even if users manually reset it, apps can always access it. This explains why you sometimes see similar ads in different apps.
In iOS 14, Apple now forces apps to ask for user permission for tracking and personalized ads the first time you launch the program.
The IDFA access change is good news for iOS users. This gives you more direct control over which apps can track you and share your data with ad networks. This change doesn’t mean you won’t see any ads, but it makes it harder for apps and advertisers to collect information about you.
This change is bad news for advertisers who rely on IDFA (and the Android equivalent, AAID) to collect user data, deliver more relevant ads, and track whether users are interacting with the ads they see.
If iOS users deny apps access to their IDFA, advertisers won’t be able to collect this information, and the entire monetization model collapses. But instead of completely disrupting the ad industry model, Apple has created an alternative system called SKAdNetwork that provides conversion rate data without transmitting the user’s IDAF.
Advertisers will likely try to convince users to enable IDAF tracking by promising they will see “more relevant ads” by doing so, but this is not a compelling argument. Even with SKAdNetwork, Apple’s decision to hide device IDAFs by default will be a headache for advertisers and apps that rely on monetized ad revenue. But this is a welcome move to ensure privacy for users – I hope Android will take it too, even if it’s not a guarantee of true anonymity .