LinkedIn Won't Use IDFA After Apple's App Tracking Transparency Changes

Apple plans to begin enforcing its App Tracking Transparency changes following the release of iOS 14.5, and all apps that access an iPhone's ad identifier or IDFA will need to ask a user's permission before tracking is allowed.

nba tracking prompt
LinkedIn today said that with Apple's proposed changes, it will no longer be accessing the IDFA so LinkedIn users will not be presented with an ad tracking popup.

On its Marketing Solutions blog, LinkedIn says that it won't use the IDFA "for now," a change that will result in "limited impact" to campaign performance for advertisers.

We've always kept ourselves to a higher standard by putting our members first. And we work hard daily to provide reliable and resilient solutions for our customers that evolve with the industry's requirements, while providing a trusted, quality experience for our members. One of the bigger industry shifts is Apple's upcoming changes to Identifier for Advertising (IDFA), which companies use for tracking and ad targeting.

We want to share an update on our plans and guidance to help you prepare for these changes. 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.

LinkedIn plans to "regularly reevaluate" the usage of the advertising identifier, but the company says it is committed to "privacy-by-design principles" that "provide a trusted experience" for LinkedIn users. Rather than using the IDFA, LinkedIn says that it will leverage its first-party data to help marketers reach buyer groups.

LinkedIn's message that abandoning the IDFA will have a limited impact to campaign performance for LinkedIn advertisers is a different message than other major social networking sites like Facebook have been sharing. Facebook has claimed that Apple's App Tracking Transparency changes will have a major impact on the small businesses that use Facebook advertising tools.

Twitter this week also said that it is not concerned about Apple's ad tracking changes because Twitter does not heavily rely on the IDFA. Twitter CFO Ned Segal said that Apple's IDFA restrictions will actually "level the playing field" by giving all advertisers new challenges to face. Twitter has, however, said that App Tracking Transparency will have a "modest" impact on revenue.

Facebook and other advertisers that have spoken out against App Tracking Transparency are concerned about Apple's changes because many do not believe that users will consent to being tracked across apps for ad personalization purposes.

All of the App Tracking Transparency code is in iOS 14 at the current time, but starting with the release of iOS 14.5, all apps that access the IDFA will need to implement the ad tracking popup that allows users to give or deny permission to use the IDFA.

Popular Stories

ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
iPhone Air

Report: 'Virtually No Demand' for iPhone Air

Wednesday October 22, 2025 3:22 am PDT by
Apple is "drastically" cutting production of the iPhone Air and shifting focus toward the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro models, Nikkei Asia reports. The business publication claims to have learned of a major cut to iPhone Air production motivated by weaker-than-expected consumer interest, nearly to "end of production levels." Despite early reports of the iPhone Air selling out within hours of...
sam sung auction

Former Apple Employee Sam Sung Changed His Name to Avoid Attention

Wednesday October 22, 2025 4:44 pm PDT by
Back in 2012, an Apple retail employee named Sam Sung went viral because his name is similar to Samsung, one of Apple's main competitors. In a recent interview with Business Insider, he detailed that period in his life, how Apple responded, and he explained why he ultimately changed his name. Someone posted an image of Sung's Apple business card on Reddit in 2012, and it spread rapidly....
cadillac lyric infotainment

GM to Remove CarPlay from All Future Vehicles, Including Gas Cars

Wednesday October 22, 2025 11:34 am PDT by
General Motors began phasing out support for CarPlay in its electric vehicles back in 2023, leading to complaints from iPhone users, but the company has no plans to back down. In fact, GM is going further and plans to remove CarPlay from all future gas vehicles, too. In an interview with The Verge, GM CEO Mary Barra said that the company opted to prioritize its platform for EVs, but the...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Apple's Plan to Launch Three New iPhone Designs Allegedly Revealed

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:24 am PDT by
Apple plans to launch a new type of iPhone every year for the foreseeable future, according to an Asia-based source. The detailed information was shared by the account "yeux1122" in a blog post on the Korean platform Naver, citing domestic trend and component research companies. Corroborating other reports, Apple will apparently launch its first foldable iPhone in 2026, featuring a...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
iOS 26

What's New in iOS 26.1 Beta 4

Monday October 20, 2025 1:02 pm PDT by
Even though we're at the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple is continuing to add new features. In fact, the fourth beta has some of the biggest changes that we'll get when iOS 26.1 releases to the public later this month. We've rounded up what's new below. Liquid Glass Transparency Toggle Apple added a toggle for customizing the look of Liquid Glass. In Settings > Display and Brightness,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...

Top Rated Comments

larrylaffer Avatar
61 months ago
LinkedIn doesn't really need the IDFA since it's a service you log in to, so they're fully able to track you without it.

But cute of them to try to score brownie points with this announcement.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
decisions Avatar
61 months ago
Thank you Apple! This is why, when it comes down to it, I always try and choose Apple products. It is my duty as a consumer to show companies that I do care about my privacy, it is a real factor in my purchasing decision and if a company like Apple is willing to value privacy more than other companies, I'm going to buy their product instead.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
61 months ago
Can't wait for iOS 14.5 to be RELEASED. Apple is not playing games when it comes to enforcing about privacy.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
61 months ago
good, it's working :)
But something new will be coming, no way they are all giving up ad revenues :(
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazmac Avatar
61 months ago
I love that Apple is doing this but my inner conspiracy-theorist says that these scumbag companies are rolling over too easy and have just found a different way to track us.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
61 months ago

Ohhh this sounds like Apple’s Monopoly is working ….. another antitrust case in 3..2..
that is entire BS ... educate yourself what Google is planning for 2022 ...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)