By Natalie DeCoste
Google will soon update its Google Play store and the apps within to provide added privacy and security for its users.
Google said it will now require apps to show details about what data they collect in a new safety section in their Google Play listing, as well as other information about their privacy and security practices.
According to Google, the initiative is meant to “help people understand the data an app collects or shares, if that data is secured, and additional details that impact privacy and security.”
The move comes one month after Apple launched its new privacy labels on its App Store. Apple uses three categories of labels: “data used to track you,” “data linked to you,” and “data not linked to you.”
Google’s new security section will offer features similar to Apple’s in that it will require that developers be honest and responsible for declaring what their apps use. If developers try to avoid the new rules, they will have to either fix the issue or be subject to further policy enforcement.
It is unclear how Google will organize its data or if it will offer the same micro-level approach taken by Apple. Google explained that while developers need to disclose what data they are using (location, contact, age, etc.), the company wants to give app developers the opportunity to explain why it needs the data.
“Developers agree that people should have transparency and control over their data. And they want simple ways to communicate app safety that are easy to understand and help users to make informed choices about how their data is handled,” said the company.
The policy will not take effect for several months to give developers enough time to implement the changes. App developers can start declaring the new privacy information in the fourth quarter of this year, and users can access the details in the first quarter of 2022. Then, new apps and app updates will be required to include the new privacy details starting the second quarter of 2022. Apps that do not adhere to the new policy could eventually see their updates blocked.
Google’s move is part of a larger trend of businesses responding to consumer demand for more transparency in how companies utilize user data. Not only has Apple undertaken similar steps for its App Store, but also Google made a major announcement about how it would be targeting users for ads earlier this year.
In March, Google announced it would no longer sell ads based on users browsing history across multiple websites. The company plans to stop using or investing in tracking technologies that uniquely identify web users’ presence from site to site as they move across the internet. Google acknowledged that the move was made in the wake of rising consumer expectations for privacy.
