Google is making the Play Store more privacy-friendly by taking a cue from Apple's App Store and adding privacy nutrition labels for apps. The company is pre-announcing the changes, thereby giving app developers plenty of time to prepare for this change.
The addition of privacy nutrition labels will allow you to know all the data an app collects, how this data is used, and the various security measures employed to protect your data by going through its Play Store listing.
Google Wants Android Apps to Be More Transparent
Google is giving developers the chance to highlight various safety measures they have taken to keep user data safe and secure. Google says in its announcement on the Android Developers Blog that it will add a new safety section to the Play Store to allow developers to highlight the following aspects of their apps:
- The app has security practices, like data encryption
- The app follows the Families policy
- The app needs this data to function or if users have choice in sharing it
- The app’s safety section is verified by an independent third-party
- The app enables users to request data deletion, if they decide to uninstall
Google will also ask developers to provide information on the data collected by their app, how it is stored, whether it is encrypted or not, and how this data is important for the functionality of the app.
Google notes that app developers will be solely responsible for the information they disclose in this section. Any app developer providing incorrect information or violating the policy will be required to fix it at the earliest. The company did not clarify if an app or app developer will be banned from the Play Store or not for violating the policies or giving incorrect information.
Google recently pre-announced another major policy change that will require app developers to stop spamming the Play Store.
Google Apps Will Also Feature a Safety Section
To keep things fair, Google's own apps on the Play Store will also be subject to the same rules. They will also show the user data they collect and what they use it for along with a privacy policy.
Google is giving developers plenty of time to prepare for this change. The company will announce detailed app privacy policy guidance and other resources related to the new guidelines this summer. It will require all new apps and app updates to include the relevant details starting Q2 2022.