Apple iOS 15 Privacy Features Could Mean Trouble For Advertisers

As per a report by The Information (via AppleInsider), two new features coming to iOS 15 have concerned advertisers. These features are called Private Relay and Hide My Email, where the latter enables users to create random email addresses that will automatically forward emails to their personal inbox. Users can read and reply to these emails without having to reveal their personal email addresses.

iOS 15 Causing Trouble For Marketers

Apple claims that it doesn't read the content of any emails that go through the Hide My Email feature except to remove spam. The company says it aims to "maintain our status as a trusted email provider." All emails going through the feature are removed from the company's relay servers after they are delivered to the user, and all this happens in a matter of seconds.

This feature tricks advertisers that usually collect users' email addresses from online forms they might have filled and then push spam messages to that address. However, the new feature won't provide them access to the user's real email address.

Another feature that isn't sitting well with advertisers is Private Relay. It works as a VPN blocking the user's IP address while encrypting traffic on the internet. This feature blocks workarounds that firms have developed to bypass ATT and Hide My Email. It doesn't let online marketing firms know the real email addresses of customers leaving very less scope for targeted ads.

How To Enable This Feature

All users need to do to enable Hide My Email, is go to Settings > Tap on their name at the top of the screen. Now, go to iCloud > Hide My Email. Then, go to Create New Address. It will create a random address that ends with @iCloud.com. If users don't like the random address, they can press the button that says "Use Different Address to see a new one." If they like it, they can tap on "Continue."

The next screen will enable users to create a note next to the new address to remember what they used it for. Users need to hit "Next" and voila! It's done; a fake email address has been created. To delete it, go to Settings > iCloud > Hide My Email to see a list of generated email addresses. Tapping on "Deactivate Email Address" will pop up a screen where users need to confirm.

For activating the Private Relay feature, users need to hit Settings > Tap on their name at the top of the screen > iCloud > Private Relay.

iCloud Subscription Is A Must

While the features sound pretty interesting, users should note that a premium iCloud subscription will be required to use them. This shouldn't be a huge problem as 50GB of additional cloud storage costs only Rs. 75 a month, while the 200GB plan will set you back by Rs. 219, and the whopping 2TB cloud storage option will cost Rs, 749.

Both features could be a huge hit for the advertising businesses who have been using email addresses and IP addresses to work around the previously launched App Tracking Transparency.