Google is looking to give users of Android devices more control through new rules for the Play Store. From now on, applications will have to allow them to easily delete their accounts and their data.
Google continues to make life easier for Android smartphone users. Thus, the Web giant recently enabled the transfer of files and data between Android and Windows thanks to the Nearby Share function, while allowing applications to be downloaded on several devices at the same time. It also strives to improve the privacy of user data. Last year, he notably made the Security and data function mandatory, forcing developers to indicate on the Play Store the details of the data collected by their applications. This time, Google intends to “give users more transparency and control over account data“. As advertised in a blog post, the company intends to put in place new rules for Android application developers, in particular regarding the deletion of user accounts and the personal data attached to them. Indeed, some applications only work if the user creates an account, but the latter is not necessarily easily deletable afterwards, either because no option is offered to do so, or because the process is long and complicated, or because the person simply forgot to do so before uninstalling the app in question. Google has therefore decided to take the situation in hand.
Android apps: delete your data from the app and website
Google now requires applications from the Play Store to offer a “easily accessible option” so that users can delete their account, both in the application itself and on the website, in order to offer them “more clarity and control over their in-app data”. A decision that comes shortly after Apple implemented a similar policy for App Store apps in June 2022. Thus, developers will have to offer a function to delete one’s account and data from the App Store. app and website. Therefore, if the user has already deleted the application from his Android device, he does not need to download it again to delete his personal data. This option must be linked to the Data security part, in the Play Store.
When the user deletes his account, all associated personal data must also be automatically deleted, so that it is not necessary to carry out two separate processes. The user must also be able to keep his account while deleting certain personal data (history of activities, images, videos, etc.) if he wishes. In cases where developers need to retain specific data, they will need to specify what data is retained and how it will be used.
Personal data of Android applications: a gradual implementation
Google is well aware that not all of these changes can be implemented in a snap, so it intends to give developers enough time to adapt to this new policy, with a multi-step implementation. . This should not a priori pose too many difficulties for large publishers, especially since Apple has already paved the way for its application store, but it may be a little more complicated for small independent developers, whose resources are more limited and who have less expertise to implement these changes.
Developers will have until December 7, 2023 to answer questions about data deletion in their app’s security form. The changes will start appearing on the Play Store in early 2024, but it will be possible to request an extension until May 31. These new rules are part of a context of strengthening data protection laws on a global scale. In Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which imposes strict rules for everything relating to the collection, processing and retention of personal data, is particularly difficult for tech companies and gives led to numerous convictions. The GAFAMs in particular are in line with the European Parliament, which has gone so far as to set up a toll-free number to denounce any practice aimed at influencing European digital policy (see our article).