How-tos

Google Play Store to Require Privacy Info Section, Like Apple App Store – Review Geek


Google Play Store application icon on Samsung smartphone
BigTunaOnline/Shutterstock.com

Following Apple’s lead, Google will also start requiring apps to disclose their privacy and security practices in its Play Store. Google is also requiring its own apps to share this information so users will know what data is being collected about them.

The initiative will start sometime in 2022, and will see a new safety section added to each app’s Play Store listing. It is designed to “help people understand the data an app collects or shares, if that data is secured, and additional details that impact privacy and security. Just like Apple’s privacy nutrition labels, the safety section will list out exactly what data an app will have access to on your device once it’s downloaded. This can include your contacts, location, and/or bits of your personal information, such as an email address.

Google wants app developers to provide additional information in context to explain how their app uses the collected data and how it impacts that app’s overall functionality. Developers should also disclose whether any of this data is encrypted, whether users can opt out of any data sharing, and whether or not it is adhering to Google’s policies for apps aimed at kids. Google also plans to note whether a third party has verified all of the information listed in the safety section.

Google's implementation timeline for safety section
Google

By waiting until next year to start enforcing this policy, Google is hoping it’ll give developers enough time to implement the changes on their end. According to a new timeline Google shared, developers can start posting their privacy information in the Google Play Console starting in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Users will start seeing safety section information early 2022. Google’s deadline for every app to add this information is by the second quarter of 2022, and apps that fail to comply by that time will be subject to policy enforcement. Developers that misrepresent data will be required to correct their information.

via The Verge





READ SOURCE

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.