Apple Email Privacy Protection
Apple announced the release of a new privacy feature in iOS 15 and Mac OS Monterey.
People using the native Apple Mail app now have the option to enable a new feature called Mail Privacy Protection, which will limit the ability to accurately determine:
- Whether an email was opened for real
- The date and time the email was opened
- The location of the recipient
- The app or type of device used to open the email
This change may affect how you measure the success of your email campaigns and also how you engage with your subscribers.
Even taking into account this new privacy feature from Apple:
- Emails will still be successfully delivered to anyone that uses Apple Mail
- Clicks will still be reported for anyone who use Apple Mail
- When a genuine click is recorded we detect the location and app / device
What does Apple Email Privacy Protection do?
When an email is delivered to a person that uses the native Apple Mail app and they also have Email Privacy Protection enabled, Apple will preload all images.
Preloading images will include the non-visible pixel that is used to track when an email is opened and as a result will make the open metric less accurate.
Which email apps does the feature apply to?
The feature only applies to the native Apple Mail app on iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey.
How will this impact on your marketing activity planning?
In terms of the Campaign report itself, you may see:
- Inflated open rate
- Lower click to open rate
- Inaccurate location reporting
- Inaccurate app / device reporting
Split tests that are based on open rate may not be wholly accurate and automated retargeting Campaigns to non-openers will exclude anyone recorded as using Apple Email Privacy Protection.
Although Apple Email Privacy Protection may inflate open rates you can still rely on other engagement metrics such as clicks and conversions as being accurate.