Google has warned Android app developers to give the users better insight into the data collection behaviors of their applications. In case of non-compliance of the developers, company states that he will mark them with flags applications their.
Last Friday, the company announced corrections Safe Browsing rules and Google's "junk" policy.
If developers do not comply within 60 days, Google said it would warn users via Google Play Protect or Safe Browsing of "web pages that lead to these applications."
"Google Safe Browsing will display alerts on apps and websites that lead to apps that collect personal data without the user's consent," the statement said.
So if an application manages any kind of personal data (phone number, email post office) or device data (such as the IMEI number), developers should report this to the end user but also include the privacy policy in their app.
"In addition, if an application collects and transmits personal data that is not related to the functionality of the application, then, before collecting and transmitting the data, the application should emphasize how the user's data will be used and request his permission for such use, "the statement said.
The company, in addition to trying to "protect" the end user from arbitrary third-party applications that intercept data, naturally tries to fix the picture her.
The remarkable thing is that the limits for the protection of the end users, he tries to pass only to the Android application developers and not to the company itself, which is known for collecting all kinds of data, in right and wrong ways.
As mentioned in a previous post, as a whole, the information collected by Google can create a complete profile of each user. This profile includes everything: your emails, documents in Drive, browsing history, videos you watch on YouTube, codeof WiFi access and much more.
So Friday's announcement of a change in the company's policy on Google Play applications seems a bit hypocritical, although the company's goal is to protect its customers' data.