Apple’s new commitment to privacy has destroyed email open rates as a useful metric in email marketing.

While the Apple user in me appreciates the protection of my data, the marketer in me is grinding my teeth in frustration.

In September of 2021, Apple released iOS 15, which includes Mail Privacy Protection. To quote Apple’s June 2021 press release, Mail Privacy Protection “stops senders from using invisible pixels to collect information about the user. The new feature helps users prevent senders from knowing when they open an email and masks their IP address so it can’t be linked to other online activity or used to determine their location.”

Basically, this means Apple is sending your email service provider (ESP) false data about who is opening your emails.

Don’t panic. This is not the end of email marketing as we know it.

Here’s why…

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