Apple has repeatedly warned developers about its plans to abandon UDID in order to protect personal data. And now the “miracle” has happened. In the sixth iOS, it will be replaced by IFA (identifierForAdvertising).
I’ll start with the good news. Like UDID, it can be used by third-party companies to monitor and collect information about users. However, this time the collection of information does not mean downloading personal data, but access to information about user activity in mobile applications (how much they play, how much they spend on IAP, and so on).
So advertising and analytical agencies can breathe easy. But if the user is confident in the world Masonic conspiracy or simply does not want anyone to know what kind of applications he is downloading to his smartphone, he can easily disable IFA in the settings.
Important: IFA is supported only by iOS 6. Data about users using outdated firmware on their devices is still tracked via UDID. This means that they are still insured against leaks. Moreover, for the first time, until most users switch to iOS 6, developers will have to take into account both UDID and IFA data at once.