How do Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) affect click tracking in email marketing?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 15 Apr 2025
Updated 13 Oct 2025
8 min read
The landscape of email marketing continues to evolve rapidly, particularly with privacy-focused updates from major tech players. Two significant changes from Apple, Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP), have generated considerable discussion. Many email marketers wonder how these impact their ability to measure campaign performance, especially when it comes to click tracking. It is a common misconception that these features directly hinder click metrics.
I often hear questions about whether these privacy measures block or obscure email clicks. Understanding their distinct functions is key to clarifying this. While they certainly reshape how we approach email analytics, their primary targets are different aspects of user tracking, with specific implications for open rates rather than clicks. Let's explore how MPP and ITP function and what that means for your email campaigns.
Mail Privacy Protection and its true impact
Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), introduced with iOS 15, is designed to prevent email senders from learning information about a recipient’s mail activity. It primarily achieves this by preloading remote content, including tracking pixels, whether or not the user actually opens the email. This functionality essentially masks the true open rate, making it appear as if all emails are opened by users with MPP enabled. For more details on its impact on opens, you can read our guide on Apple Mail Privacy.
However, it's crucial to understand that MPP does not interfere with click tracking. A click is a deliberate action taken by the recipient to interact with a link within the email. This action happens independently of the preloading of images. When a user clicks a link, that click is still recorded accurately by your Email Service Provider (ESP) or tracking system, irrespective of MPP. The click information is tied to the redirect that occurs when the link is activated, not to the loading of an invisible pixel.
This means that while open rates have become a less reliable metric for Apple Mail users, click rates remain a robust indicator of engagement and interest. Marketers should shift their focus towards clicks, conversions, and other downstream metrics to gauge the true performance of their campaigns. The change emphasizes the quality of your call to action and the relevance of your content, rather than simply getting an email opened.
MPP impact
Open rates: Appear artificially inflated due to image preloading. They are no longer a reliable measure of actual engagement.
Click tracking: Unaffected, as clicks are recorded when a user actively engages with a link, separate from image loading. Click rates remain a dependable metric.
Deliverability: MPP itself does not directly impact email deliverability or sender reputation. However, a decrease in actual engagement can indirectly affect it over time.
While MPP's focus is on email privacy, it has no direct bearing on how clicks are registered once a user interacts with a link. The mechanism for tracking clicks is distinct from that of tracking opens, ensuring that click data remains a valuable and largely unimpacted metric for evaluating campaign success.
Deciphering intelligent tracking prevention (ITP)
Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) is a feature of Apple’s Safari browser, designed to limit cross-site tracking by reducing the lifespan of cookies and other forms of persistent storage. Its primary goal is to protect user privacy on the web by making it harder for advertisers and analytics providers to follow users across different websites. You can learn more about its web-based impact in articles like How Apple's Intelligent Tracking Prevention.
ITP's influence is predominantly within the browser environment. When an email recipient clicks a link, they are typically redirected through your ESP’s tracking domain before landing on the final destination URL. While this redirection occurs, the actual tracking of the click happens server-side, not via browser-based cookies that ITP might restrict. Therefore, ITP has no direct impact on the ability to record clicks originating from email campaigns, as the click is logged before any browser-side tracking limitations come into play.
It's important to distinguish between email tracking and web tracking. ITP specifically targets tracking mechanisms within web browsers, such as third-party cookies used for cross-site identification. Email click tracking, by contrast, is a server-side process that registers the interaction with a specific URL from an email client. This fundamental difference means that ITP does not pose a threat to the accuracy of your email click data.
Mail privacy protection (MPP)
Mechanism: Preloads all images (including tracking pixels) in Apple Mail, making it appear as if emails are opened regardless of actual user behavior.
Impact on email metrics: Primarily affects open rates, rendering them unreliable for Apple Mail users. Does not impact click tracking.
Scope: Applies to Apple Mail app users on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
Intelligent tracking prevention (ITP)
Mechanism: Restricts third-party cookies and other cross-site tracking methods within the browser environment.
Impact on email metrics: Does not directly affect email click tracking. Its impact is on web analytics and remarketing efforts that rely on browser cookies.
Scope: Applies to the Safari browser and WebKit-based browsers on Apple devices.
How click tracking works in emails
Email click tracking operates by transforming the original links in your email into unique tracking URLs. When a recipient clicks one of these links, they are first redirected through a server managed by your Email Service Provider (ESP) or a dedicated click tracking domain. This redirection allows the ESP to register the click, collect data such as the time of click, the user's IP address, and sometimes even their device and location, before finally sending them to the intended destination.
Some marketers use custom tracking domains or subdomains for their click tracking. The idea behind this is often to align the tracking domain more closely with their sending domain, which can positively influence deliverability and sender reputation. However, this practice does not affect how MPP or ITP interact with click tracking. Neither MPP nor ITP blocks or interferes with these server-side redirects, regardless of whether a standard or custom tracking domain is used. It's about where the tracking takes place (server vs. browser) rather than the domain itself.
For example, a typical click tracking URL might look like this, where yourtrackingdomain.com is the custom domain. Note the use of HTTPS, which is crucial for modern email deliverability and ensuring links are not flagged as insecure, impacting your sender reputation and potentially causing your messages to land in the junk folder.
The key takeaway is that click tracking relies on the underlying URL redirection mechanism, which remains unaffected by Apple's privacy features. While link shorteners or custom tracking domains might have other deliverability implications, they do not change the fundamental fact that MPP and ITP do not block or mask email clicks.
Adapting your email marketing strategy
Given that MPP and ITP do not impede click tracking, email marketers can continue to rely on click metrics as a strong indicator of subscriber engagement. While the era of precise open rate measurement for Apple Mail users is largely over, the effectiveness of your calls to action and the relevance of your content can still be accurately measured through clicks.
This shift encourages a focus on deeper engagement metrics. Beyond clicks, consider tracking conversion rates on your website, replies to your emails, or even direct website traffic attributed to your email campaigns. These metrics provide a more holistic view of your audience's interaction with your brand. Improving these metrics also plays a role in email deliverability as ISPs consider engagement when assessing sender reputation, preventing you from ending up on a blacklist or blocklist.
Regularly monitor your click-through rates and experiment with different calls to action and content strategies to see what resonates most with your audience. This adaptive approach ensures your email marketing remains effective and compliant with evolving privacy standards. Don't forget to conduct an email deliverability test to ensure your emails are reaching inboxes and engaging your audience as intended.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Focus on clear and compelling calls to action (CTAs) within your emails.
Segment your audience effectively to send relevant content that encourages clicks.
Monitor conversion rates and other post-click metrics for true campaign performance.
Ensure your click tracking domains use HTTPS for security and improved deliverability.
Regularly test your email campaigns across different devices and clients.
Common pitfalls
Over-reliance on open rates as a primary success metric for all subscribers.
Confusing open tracking pixels with URL click tracking mechanisms.
Assuming Apple's privacy features block or impede all forms of tracking.
Neglecting the importance of strong sender reputation and proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
Not adapting content strategies to encourage active clicks rather than passive opens.
Expert tips
Implement DMARC for better visibility into your email authentication.
Keep an eye on bounce rates and spam complaints as key deliverability indicators.
Consider engaging with your most active subscribers through different channels.
Analyze click patterns for insights into content preferences, not just total clicks.
Always prioritize user value to naturally encourage engagement and clicks.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) is specifically about image preloading and caching, which affects open rates, but it has no impact on email clicks. Additionally, Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) is a Safari browser feature designed to prevent cross-site tracking and does not affect URLs clicked within emails.
Jan 2, 2025 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says that the terminology of 'alias click tracking' isn't standard, and while some methods might involve setting browser cookies via email to connect web activity, this is browser-related and distinct from standard email click tracking.
Jan 2, 2025 - Email Geeks
Embracing privacy and reliable metrics
Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) are significant steps towards enhancing user privacy, fundamentally altering how marketers measure email opens and web behavior. However, it's clear that neither of these features directly affects the accuracy of click tracking in email marketing. Clicks remain a reliable and actionable metric, providing valuable insights into user engagement and content effectiveness.
As the email ecosystem continues to prioritize privacy, marketers must adapt by focusing on metrics that genuinely reflect user intent and engagement. By understanding the true scope of MPP and ITP, you can confidently analyze your click data and develop more effective email strategies that respect user privacy while still achieving your marketing goals. This proactive approach ensures your email programs remain robust and performant in the evolving digital landscape, helping you avoid issues like your emails going to spam.
How do Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) and Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) affect click tracking in email marketing? - Technical - Email deliverability - Knowledge base - Suped
Applies to Apple Mail app users on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
