Apple spells out how soon its IDFA privacy changes will take effect

Posted byby Dean Takahashi
January 28, 2021
Updated June 18, 2025
4 min

Apple said today that the privacy changes to its Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) in iOS 14 are coming shortly with its next beta software release.

Apple had previously said the changes — which could make it a lot harder for game and app companies to target specific users with advertising — would come in “early 2021.” Now that day of reckoning for the ad industry is nearly here, with some saying ad-based businesses like Facebook could lose 7% of their revenues, or billions of dollars. Google also predicted some harm for small companies but said it would comply with Apple’s policies.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.