Press "Enter" to skip to content

Android Team Requires App Developers to Follow New Account and Data Destruction Rules

For app developers who create accounts or store user data, such as files, images, or videos, the Android team is introducing new guidelines.

Future versions of these apps must give users the opportunity to delete their accounts and the data they have connected with them from both the app and the web. In the end, this update aims to provide users more control over their account data.

This is a helpful gif that illustrates how this can appear if developers start to adapt. Under the Data Safety section, you can notice the newly added area for Account Cleanup, which is highlighted.

The following information is primarily for developers, but we are providing it since it is significant to note because it affects when users will start to notice these changes. In conclusion, it’s likely that this won’t be publicly available on Google Play until 2024.

We’re asking developers to respond to fresh Data deletion questions in your app’s Data Safety form by December 7 as a first step. Users of Google Play will start to notice updates to your app’s store listing from the beginning of next year, including the updated data deletion badge in the Data safety section and the new Data deletion area.

Developers who require additional time to comply with the new policy can submit a Play Console extension request until May 31, 2024.

In all for data transparency, but being an app developer cannot be an easy job these days. Woof.