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PAYAL MUKERJI: 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.
For our policy updates, we'll be covering child endangerment,
health content and services, permissions and APIs,
and deceptive behavior.
Our first discussion is about our new Child Safety Standards
policy under our existing Child Endangerment policy.
We want to make sure that apps on Google Play
take appropriate action in response
to child sexual abuse materials.
As such, social and dating apps must, first,
have published standards.
Your app must explicitly prohibit child sexual abuse
and exploitation in publicly accessible standards,
such as your app's terms of service,
community guidelines, or any other publicly available user
policy documentation.
Second, provide an in-app mechanism for user feedback.
You must self-certify that you provide a mechanism
within your app for users to submit feedback, concerns,
or reports in your app.
Third, address CSAM.
You must self-certify that your app takes appropriate action,
including but not limited to removing CSAM
after obtaining actual knowledge of it
in accordance with your published standards
and relevant laws.
Fourth, comply with child safety laws.
You must self-certify that your app complies
with applicable child safety laws and regulations, including
but not limited to having a process in place to report
confirmed CSAM to the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children
or your relevant regional authority
And, fifth, provide a child safety point of contact.
Your app must provide a designated point of contact
to receive potential notifications
from Google Play about CSAE content found in your app
or on your platform.
This representative must be positioned
to speak to your enforcement and review procedures
and to take action if required.
Learn more about this new policy by visiting the link
on your screen.
Our second update is about our health apps policy.
As a follow-up to the previous announcement last October 2023,
we have included a console declaration
as an additional requirement.
In addition to the category selection in Play Console,
you must comply with the relevant requirements
for your category if your app qualifies
for one of the designations outlined in the policy.
For Health Connect, we have updated the policy
to align it with the health apps policy.
And we are replacing the existing form-based application
with the new Play Console declaration.
You can read the health-app-specific requirements
in our Help Center by visiting the link
or scanning the QR code.
Next up, Google Play is continuously
encouraging developers to proactively implement
alternative security or fraud prevention
solutions that do not rely on the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES
permission.
You can review this update by visiting the link
or scanning the QR code.
Next is the update on manipulated media
under the deceptive behavior policy.
We already have an existing guideline
where we don't allow apps that promote or help
create false or misleading information or claims conveyed
through imagery, videos, and/or text
and have now included audio to cover a wider
scope to prevent deception.
We are clarifying our personal loans policy
to prohibit accessory loan apps such as loan calculators, loan
guides, and others from accessing sensitive data,
such as photos and contacts.
You can review the policy in full in our Policy Center.
We're also clarifying that spyware
is a malicious application, code,
or behavior that collects, exfiltrates, or shares
user or device data that is not related
to policy-compliant functionality.
Spyware violations include recording audio or recording
calls made to the phone, stealing app data,
or an app with malicious third-party code
that exfiltrates data without adequate user notice or consent.
You can visit our Policy Center to learn more about this policy.
And finally, 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 advanced 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 behaviors 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.
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