GOOGLE PLAY POLICYBYTES OCTOBER 2023
Hi, I'm Payal, Product Marketing Manager
for Android and Google Play.
Today, I'll walk you through some important policy changes
designed to help keep Google Play a safe and trusted platform
where developers can build thriving businesses
and users can enjoy apps with confidence.
We'll also be going over some recent policy updates
clarifications and key dates on the horizon.
On the policy updates front
we'll be covering device and network abuse
health content and services, permissions and APIs
as well as restricted content.
First, we've updated our device and network abuse policy
to prevent the abuse of full-screen notifications.
Only phone and alarm apps
that require high-priority notifications
will automatically be granted the Use Full Screen Intent Permission
on Android 14, API target level 34.
Other apps can request Use Full Screen Intent Permissions
if their core functionality requires it.
And those that don't meet the criteria
will be required to request user permission.
This prevents apps from abusing the feature
and reserves it for high-priority notifications.
In all cases, full-screen notifications
must comply with our mobile unwanted software
device and network abuse and ads policies.
Learn more about the Use Full Screen Intent Permissions
in our Help Centre by scanning the QR code
or visiting the link on your screen.
All of the links in this video
can also be found in the video description.
In the examples on the screen
the apps are designed to provide urgent information
making full-screen notifications appropriate.
If you have a different type of app
like the one in this example
you can request user permission to use full-screen notifications.
We've also created a new health apps policy.
All health apps or apps with health-related features
that access health data
are subject to our privacy, deception and device abuse policies
including our user data policy, sensitive events
misrepresentation and deceptive behaviour policies.
Please note that new and existing COVID-19 apps
which contain health-related features
or access health data will also fall under this policy.
Medical apps, health and fitness apps and health research apps
are examples of health apps.
You can read the additional requirements in our Help Centre
by scanning the QR code
or visiting the link on your screen.
This privacy policy must be easily accessible
with links in Play Console and the app itself.
Any requests for access to health-related permissions
must be mentioned in the privacy policy with the exact use case.
For example, if your app requests activity recognition
then its use case must be added to your privacy policy.
All health apps must prominently disclose any dangerous or runtime permissions
as well as any user data being accessed and how it will be used.
Apps must also get user consent to use their data
according to the personal and sensitive user data policy.
Non-health apps with health-related features
will still fall under the health apps policy.
The connection between the app's core functionality
and the collection of health-related data
should be clear to the user and reflected in your privacy policy.
Next, we've updated our policy on photo and video permissions.
You're required to have READ_MEDIA_IMAGES
and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permissions
in order to have broad access to user photos and videos.
Photos and videos are personal data.
Apps should only access them to enable app functionality
not for third-party purposes.
We request that you use a system picker, such as the Android photo picker
to protect your users' privacy.
Apps that need to access photos and videos on shared storage
must pass a review and demonstrate a core use case.
Apps that only need to access these files once in a while
should use a system picker instead.
Make sure you remove the permissions
from your app's manifest if your app doesn't need or qualify
for broad access to a user's photos and videos
to meet the policy review requirements.
Learn more about photo and video permissions
by scanning the QR code
or visiting the link on your screen.
And finally, we've updated our policy on AI-generated content
to ensure safer content and responsible innovation
as generative AI models become more accessible.
AI-generated content is created based on user prompts
such as text-to-text chat bots
or images generated based on text, image or voice prompts.
To ensure the safety of our users
app developers must provide features
that allow users to report or flag offensive content
to developers without having to leave the app.
Learn more about AI-generated content by scanning the QR code
or visiting the link on your screen.
That's it for the policy updates.
Now I want to share a quick clarification
about our deceptive behaviour policy.
We already prohibit apps that are deceptive or contain false content.
Now, we're further clarifying the deceptive behaviour policy
to include additional examples of misinformation
that are prohibited on Google Play.
Let's take a look at some upcoming deadlines.
For policies that may take developers more time to comply with
we've been mindful to give you more advance notice.
For a full list of recent policy updates
please visit the link on your screen.
We encourage you to review these updates carefully
in case any of them affect your apps.
I hope this helped you understand our recent policy updates.
To learn more, visit Google Play Academy
for free courses on all things Google Play
from understanding our deceptive behaviour policy
to running effective price experiments for in-app products.
Thanks for watching and for helping us make Google Play
a safe and trustworthy platform for everyone.
GOOGLE PLAY POLICYBYTES