LinkedIn will stop collecting IDFA data on iOS. The change comes before a policy change that Apple will implement with the release of iOS 14.5 later this year, which will require developers to ask someone for permission before using that data to track them across apps and websites.
“We decided to stop collecting IDFA data from our iOS apps for now.” the company said in a blog post seen by I more. LinkedIn expects the change to have a “limited” impact on ad performance and not translate into a drastic change in the way advertisers run their campaigns.
LinkedIn’s approach differs from that which Facebook adopted in response to the policy to come. Facebook spoke out against the permission requirement shortly after Apple announced at WWDC 2020, claiming it would affect its revenue and that of all small and medium-sized businesses that depend on its ad network. In February, an additional step was required to ask iOS users to opt in to activity tracking before the change takes effect. For its part, it looks like LinkedIn hopes to avoid the kind of public relations headache it had last year, when it was sued for “secretly” reading data from the iOS clipboard.