Twitter chief financial officer: Apple’s app that monitors transparency changes ‘the playing field level’

Twitter Sego, CFO of Twitter, said Twitter at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom conference.

Segal said Twitter does not rely heavily on the device’s ID or IDFA, which is what Apple will limit by a new designation that requires developers to get user permission before the IDFA can be used for ad tracking.

We look at the unique signal that Twitter has had with a growing audience, with better formats and more relevance and the ability to make better use of the signal, many of which are not linked to a device ID. We feel really good about our ability to utilize the combination.

Segal further explained that he expects Apple’s IDFA restrictions to level the playing field. Other companies could have made better use of the information made available to them, but now everyone will have the same challenges of giving Twitter the opportunity to better compete with giants like Facebook.

We are in an industry where it was much better than Twitter to use all the data available to them, from the device ID to what people did on other sites. If we all have the same set of new challenges that we have to face, the playing field will have a very interesting impact on the wider industry.

Twitter plans to wait rather than immediately ask its users if they opt for IDFA tracking via a pop-up. “We do not want to rush into IDFA,” Segal said, explaining that app developers only get one chance to request access to the device ID. “You want to ask in a very thoughtful way” and “take time to learn” before asking “such a question,” he said.

Apple’s transparency changes for app tracking are baked into iOS 14 and are now being implemented, but from iOS 14.5, Apple will apply the rules. All app developers will have to ask permission before using the IDFA to track a user on websites and apps, and if a user disapproves, developers should respect that choice and not use it with other tracking methods.

Facebook has opposed Apple’s planned privacy changes, claiming that small businesses will be unfairly targeted, but Apple has not started making plans to implement the IDFA prompt and Facebook and other developers will be forced to use it after the launch of iOS 14.5 in the spring.