Apple's Latest 2025 Safari Update Is Killing Click IDs — Here’s Why That’s Good for Stiddle Users

At WWDC 2025, Apple just fired another shot in the war on tracking: Safari is now set to strip click tracking IDs (gclid, fbclid, msclkid, and more) by default — not just in Private Browsing, but in all sessions.

This change, part of Apple’s new Advanced Tracking & Fingerprinting Protection, will roll out across iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Tahoe this fall.

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What’s changing?

When users click links in Safari (and also in Mail and Messages), Apple will now automatically remove tracking IDs that uniquely identify them, including:

• gclid (Google Ads click ID)
  
  
• fbclid (Facebook click ID)
  
  
• msclkid (Microsoft Ads click ID)
  
  
• Other marketing platform click IDs (HubSpot, Marketo, Mailchimp, etc.)
  
  

UTM parameters (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, etc.) are not stripped — because they don’t identify individuals; they simply tell you where the traffic is coming from.

Why this matters

If you rely on tools or models that depend on click IDs for attribution — like some legacy analytics platforms, ad network dashboards, or last-click models that match gclids — your measurement is about to get a lot less reliable for Safari users.

And Safari users matter — they account for over 30–50% of web traffic in many markets.

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Why Stiddle customers don’t need to worry

Here’s the good news: Stiddle doesn’t rely on click IDs.
We architected our platform to be future-proof by design.

• Stiddle uses UTM parameters (source, medium, campaign) and first-party data to build attribution models — not gclid, fbclid, or any other user-identifiable click IDs.
  
  
• Our AI-powered attribution models are based on signal quality, not identity-based click IDs that can be stripped or blocked.
  
  
• Our Customer Intelligence Platform enriches this data with behavioral signals and server-side events — keeping your insights accurate even as browsers tighten privacy.
  
  

👉 In short: if you’re using Stiddle, Apple’s new changes won’t break your attribution or reporting. You’ll still have visibility into what’s driving your conversions — and you’ll be well ahead of the curve compared to platforms that still rely on fragile click ID tracking.

How to future-proof your marketing stack

Apple’s move is just one more sign of where the web is headed:

• Click IDs are on borrowed time.
  
  
• First-party data, UTM-based tracking, and server-side measurement are the future.
  
  

If you’re still relying on raw click IDs for attribution, now is the time to rethink your stack. The good news is: with Stiddle, you’re already ahead.

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Final takeaway

Safari’s new protections might sound scary, but if you’re using a modern attribution solution like Stiddle:
✅ You’re not impacted.
✅ Your attribution models will remain accurate.
✅ You’re future-proofed against further browser-level changes.

Privacy-first measurement is no longer optional.
With Stiddle, you’re already built for this new world.

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