Saying Coverage Updates To Bolster Privateness and Safety

Posted by Krish Vitaldevara, Director, Product Administration

We’re all the time trying to make Google Play a safer and extra reliable expertise for builders and shoppers. Right now, we’re saying new coverage updates to bolster consumer management, privateness, and safety.

Giving customers extra transparency into knowledge privateness and safety

We’re sharing our new coverage for the upcoming security part in Google Play alongside further info, like knowledge definitions. Be taught extra.

Enhancing promoting privateness and safety

We’ve lengthy provided customers significant controls with promoting ID, like with the ability to reset their identifier at any time or choose out of permitting the identifier for use for adverts personalization. We’re persevering with so as to add extra controls this yr.

As we pre-announced to builders on June 2, we’re making a technical change as a part of Google Play providers replace in late 2021. When customers choose out of interest-based promoting or adverts personalization, their promoting ID will likely be eliminated and changed with a string of zeros. As a reminder, this Google Play providers change will likely be a phased rollout, affecting apps working on Android 12 gadgets beginning late 2021 and increasing to all apps working on gadgets that help Google Play in early 2022. Additionally, apps updating their goal API stage to Android 12 might want to declare a new Google Play providers permission within the manifest file with a purpose to use promoting ID.

We may even take a look at a brand new function that notifies builders and advert/analytics service suppliers of consumer opt-out preferences to assist builders implement consumer selection and add to present coverage restrictions on how promoting ID can be utilized. When a consumer deletes their promoting ID, builders will obtain a notification to allow them to promptly erase promoting IDs which can be now not in use.

As well as, we’re prohibiting linking persistent machine identifiers to non-public and delicate consumer knowledge or resettable machine identifiers. This coverage provides a further layer of privateness safety when customers reset their machine identifiers or uninstall apps.

And final, we’re providing a developer preview of app set ID for important use instances comparable to analytics or fraud prevention. App set ID is a singular ID that, on a given machine, permits you to correlate utilization or actions throughout a set of apps owned by your group. You can’t use app set ID for adverts personalization or adverts measurement. It’ll additionally mechanically reset if all of the builders’ apps on the machine are uninstalled or not one of the apps have accessed the ID in 13 months.

Enhancing safety for youths

As we introduce app set ID for analytics and fraud prevention, we’re additionally making modifications to additional improve privateness for youths. If an app is primarily directed to youngsters, it can not transmit identifiers like promoting ID. If an app’s viewers is each youngsters and adults, then it must keep away from transmitting these identifiers for youths.

Over the subsequent a number of months, we’ll share extra info for a clean transition.

Strengthening safety

Safety is key to enabling privateness throughout our platform. We’re saying a couple of coverage updates to assist hold consumer knowledge safe.

First, Google Play stays a safer ecosystem when builders actively preserve their apps. So, we are going to shut dormant accounts if the account is inactive or deserted after a yr. This consists of accounts the place the developer has by no means uploaded an app or accessed Google Play Console in a yr.

We are going to proceed supporting builders with actively rising apps. We gained’t shut accounts with apps which have 1000+ installs or have in-app purchases within the final 90 days. Builders whose accounts are closed can create new ones sooner or later, however they gained’t be capable of reactivate previous accounts, apps, or knowledge.

Second, it’s necessary for customers to have an accessible expertise that’s safe. So, we’re including new necessities on how AccessibilityService API and IsAccessibilityTool can be utilized. These instruments assist construct accessible experiences, which regularly require entry to consumer knowledge and machine performance. Now, all apps that use the AccessibilityService API might want to disclose knowledge entry and objective in Google Play Console and get approval. Be taught extra.

Reminder on Funds coverage

As we shared earlier in July, after cautious consideration of suggestions from each massive and small builders, we’re giving builders an choice to request a 6-month extension till March 31, 2022 to adjust to our Funds coverage.

For extra sources

Thanks for serving to us make Google Play an much more reliable platform for everybody.