Why Google Play Developer Program Policy Update is Good for Users
On 9 Oct 2018, we received an email from Google informing of changes in the Developer Program Policies. The changes are summarized as shown:
- Malicious Behavior include surveillance and commercial spyware apps.
- Designed for Families program requirements and Primarily Child-Directed Declaration guidelines to help ensure accurate representation of an app's targeted age group.
- User Data and Permissions policies, including adding specific restrictions on the use of the Call Log and SMS permission groups.
- Developers have 90 days (that is 7 January 2019) from the date of this announcement to make your apps compliant with this updated Call Log and SMS permissions policy.
- Enforcement section to explain the extent of our policy coverage, including the actions that we may take on apps that violate our policies.
Developers must now explicitly declare data collection and usage, and cannot hide behind other long lengthy disclosures. Access to call logs and sms logs will also be removed for non default apps.
All these new updates, may not be retroactively applied to existing apps. So be extra cautious when you download an app that is not updated for a very long time.
A big Thumbs up.
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