An update from Adjust on Apple’s user privacy changes
Paul H. Müller, Key Advisor to the CEO, Adjust, Jun 23, 2020.
At Apple’s 2020 WWDC conference the company introduced its latest iPhone operating system - iOS 14. The new OS features a number of new privacy features. For app developers and marketers the most critical of these is the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, which requires all apps to describe what data is being collected, how it will be used, and then ask user permission to access that data.
Under this framework, developers must receive explicit permission to track users. Per Apple’s definition, tracking includes:
“Placing a third-party SDK in your app that combines user data from your app with user data from other developers’ apps to target advertising or measure advertising efficiency, even if you don’t use the SDK for these purposes.”
If permission is not explicitly granted by the user then the IDFA value will be all zeroes, as if Limit Ad Tracking (LAT) was enabled.
However, not all of the news here is disruptive. Apple has highlighted two new ways for developers to still track their analytics data.
The first is that the ID for Vendors (IDFV) can be used for analytics across apps from the same content provider. This means that developers can use the analytics and data gathered from one app to drive the launch and management of another app that the developer also owns.
The last big change introduced at WWDC is the SKAdNetwork (SKAN) which Apple is asking ad networks to use for attribution. The SKAdNetwork API will enable ad networks to identify which app should be credited with the download. SKAdNetwork also identifies re-downloads.
The diagram below describes the flow:
Adjust, as an official Apple Search Ads Partner, has been continuously working with Apple to ensure the full support of our services. We will continue to enable our clients to not only view their data for all their campaigns across both iOS and Android, but also to ensure that this data is actionable and leads them to make the best decisions possible.
We will follow with more details in the coming days.
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