Last year was The Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), a random device identifier assigned by Apple to a user’s device.

The IDFA is used for tracking and identifying a user (without revealing personal information).

And now – it’s the IP address.

Apple will start redirecting web traffic through two separate servers in order to conceal a user’s IP address.

This product will be known as Private Relay and will be part of a new service called iCloud Plus.

This could be one way to prevent fingerprinting, a banned identification method Apple has yet to enforce against on iOS.

Although IP addresses aren’t the only element used in fingerprinting, they are one of the critical parts.

Apple says the feature will ensure that all traffic leaving devices is encrypted so that no one can read or intercept it.

The news comes one year after Apple upended the personal data status quo, when it announced plans for the Private Relay, along with a smorgasbord of supplemental privacy-based announcements.

Apple has made privacy one of its hallmarks as it drives innovation into the future.

Apple also has new privacy system controls on deck that will hide a user’s IP address from third-party trackers within Safari and on the Mail app.

Now, a person’s IP address will be hidden so that email senders can't connect the account to other online activity or to someone’s location.

Senders will also be prevented from seeing whether the receiver has opened an email.

Apple will also obscure IP addresses on Safari, which already blocks third-party cookies by default with Intelligent Tracking Prevention.

This layers well with the new Safari Privacy Report, where people will be able to analyze which trackers are prevented from profiling them.

So Unified ID 2.0 initiative and any email-based identity solution would be able to circumvent these privacy tools, right?

Wrong.

Apple is planning to launch a default feature for Mail, Safari and iCloud called Hide My Mail that allows people to create unique random email addresses that forward to their personal inbox.

Users can set up as many email addresses as they want and delete them at any time.

So what does this mean for the tech world?

Ad distributors like Twitter and Facebook must be tearing their hair out that they won’t be able to track users that use Apple products.

Apple is also making a more concerted effort to block other time-tested method of extracting personal data.

And I will tell you, it’s only going to get harder for Facebook.

It’s clear that Apple is moving into Facebook territory with the spawning of products that look similar to Facebook features as well.

IMessage is freshening up too, with new features that make it easier to share web links, photos, Apple Music tracks, and Apple News articles with your contacts.

CEO of Apple Tim Cook is known to personally dislike the way Facebook does business and it appears many of the new features are directly undermining the existence of Facebook.

It was only a matter of time that big tech behemoths start meaningfully stepping on each other’s toes.

There’s only so much revenue out there for everyone and this proves it.

Cook has piled onto the data privacy narrative and finally making it a reality while many tech companies are just banging the drum about it but still barely moving a finger about it.

We are entering into a phase of technology where firms late on the privacy pivot could fall behind dramatically and even though Facebook is incredibly profitable, that doesn’t mean they always will be.

The health push also can’t go unnoticed.

A few years ago, Apple added a feature to the Apple Watch to call for help if you fall.

Now, the Health app will quantify the chances of you falling.

The company said these quantifiable predictions are scientifically validated, and Apple will send an alert to warn you of a forecasted fall.

The Apple Health App will have more functionality in the future, and they are adding a way to share health data with close family.

This has been the trend for other big tech companies and the news is on the heels of Amazon’s announcement that they are going full steam into the drug prescription business which is bad news for companies like Walgreens and CVS.

We are seeing big tech companies branch out like no other and Apple is on the front foot while Facebook is still ringfenced and only saved by the growth of Instagram.

As we know, these social platforms are an ephemeral phenomenon before, sometimes glitzier and trendier catches fire.

Apple appears to be breaking out in the range and any pullback to $125 should be bought.

This remains one of the preeminent tech companies and the pace of product development, although not as stunning as Amazon, is right up there and outpaces Facebook by a mile.

Every serious tech investor should buy and hold Apple long-term, and we are on the cusp of a buy-back cycle that should help the stock’s price action.