Welcome to Google Play PolicyBytes.
I'm Teresa, a product marketing manager for Android and Google Play.
Thanks for joining us today.
We'll cover recent policy updates and key reminders.
Let's start with recent policy updates.
We'll talk about the seven updates to our user data, ads,
store listing and promotions, and Families policies,
and our enforcement process.
As you may have heard, we're adding a new safety section in Google Play
to help people understand the data an app collects or shares,
and if that data is secured.
Developers have shared with us that they agree,
people should have transparency and control over their data.
We all want consumers to be able to decide if an app is right for them
and confidently download.
So, we're adding a new section to the Google Play store listing,
where you can inform your users what your privacy and security practices are.
As you can see, I'll summarize what data is collected or shared
and highlight privacy and security details,
such as if the app uses data encryption, follows our Families policy,
has our safety section validated by an independent third party,
or allows users to request data deletion if they decide to uninstall.
With this new safety section, we are also introducing a few updates
to our user data policy to bolster privacy and security.
First, all apps must have a privacy policy that's posted in the Google Play Console
and within the app itself.
The privacy policy must include information
such as your data retention and deletion policy.
Apps that do not access any personal and sensitive user data
must still provide a privacy policy.
Second, developers must provide clear and accurate information
related to personal or sensitive user data their app collects or shares.
If your apps target audience is children, the SDKs you use
must be approved for use in child-directed services.
Similar to other app details like screenshots and descriptions,
developers are responsible for keeping this information accurate and up to date.
We want to give developers plenty of time and resources to get prepared.
This October, you'll be able to fill out information in the Google Pay Console
and submit it for review.
We encourage you to start early in case you have questions along the way.
Then, early next year, we'll launch this new section in Google Play
where your users can review it before they download your app.
Some developers may need some more time to assess their apps
and coordinate across multiple teams, so you'll have until Q2 2022
before all apps must have their section approved.
Now, on to the next update.
We'll cover upcoming changes to our advertising and user data policies
that provide users with more control over their data.
Right now, Android provides a flag for developers
when a user opts out of ads personalization
so that developers can take appropriate action.
Starting in late 2021, we're making a technical change.
Instead of receiving a flag when a user opts out of interest-based advertising
or ads personalization, their advertising identifier will be removed
and replaced with a string of zeros.
This Google Play service's phased rollout will affect apps running on Android 12
devices starting in late 2021
and will expand to all apps running on devices that support Google Play
in early 2022.
With our Android S rollout later this year,
we're updating what the Android's ads settings page will look like,
where users can choose to delete their Advertising ID.
If they'd like, they can always request a new Advertising ID in the future.
To help developers and ads and analytics service providers
with compliance efforts and to respect user choice,
they will be able to receive notifications for opt-out preferences.
Additionally, apps targeting Android 12 will need to declare
a Google Play services permission in the manifest file in order to use Ad ID.
We've heard that some developers use Ad ID for essential use cases
such as analytics or fraud prevention.
For these purposes, we're providing a more privacy-friendly alternative,
called app set ID.
This ID is one unique identifier for all apps by the same developer on the device.
You cannot use this ID for ads personalization or ads measurement.
It will automatically reset if none of the developer's apps
on the device are used within a year.
Another change we're making to protect user privacy
is to prohibit linking persistent device identifiers
to personal and sensitive user data or resettable device identifiers.
We'll make exceptions for pre-approved use cases such as
telephony linked to a SIM identity,
such as Wi-Fi calling linked to a carrier account,
and enterprise device management apps using device owner mode.
Now, let's take a look at our Families policy update.
Protecting kids' privacy is important to Google.
We've never allowed ads personalization for kids.
Now, we're taking things a step further for apps that target kids.
We're prohibiting identifiers which could be used for personalizing ads.
With our policy updates, you must not transmit the identifiers listed here
from children or users of unknown age.
Developers need to comply with this update within 30 days of this announcement,
with the exception of Ad ID.
For Ad ID, developers have additional time
until six months after this announcement to comply.
We'll continue to work with industry for a smooth transition
over the next several months.
And now, let's talk about store listings and promotions.
Your app title, icon, and developer name are all essential for users
when they decide what to download.
We're updating this policy to increase trust across the ecosystem.
First, your app title must be 30 characters or less.
Second, don't use emojis, emoticons, or repeated special characters
in your metadata elements.
Third, misleading symbols in app icons are not allowed.
For example, new message dot indicators when there are no actual new messages,
and download or install symbols when the app is not related to downloading content.
And finally, avoid ALL CAPS unless it is part of your brand name.
Here are some common violations.
This app has the word planner in all caps.
Even though it is not part of the brand name.
It includes special character sequences,
for example, consecutive exclamation points that are irrelevant to the app.
It uses emojis, emoticons, including Kaomojis, and special characters.
It also uses a misleading symbol, the new message dot indicator,
at the upper right of the icon when there are no new messages.
And finally, it includes a misleading text that says, "UPDATE NOW."
We'll take action on these violations starting this September.
We're also adding a new guideline on incentivized installs,
reviews, and ratings.
These include using text or images in your app title, icon, and developer name
that indicate price or other promotional information.
Developers must not add text or images
that indicate store performance or ranking, or suggest relations
to existing play programs in the app title, icon, or developer name.
Let's take a look at some examples or violations.
These apps use prohibited images or text indicating store performance or ranking,
such as "App of the year" in the app icon,
and "Best Slot Machine" in the app title,
"1st" or "#1 in magic games"
and "Top Free Games" in the app developer name,
"Best of Play 2019" in both the icon and app title,
and an award image.
Here are some violations of images or text
indicating price and promotional information, such as "50% OFF"
or "$50 Cashback," "SALE" or "On Sale For Limited Time"
and "100 FREE SPINS" or "Free 100."
Lastly, apps must not have images or text that indicate play programs,
such as "Editor's choice" and "NEW."
These examples violate store listing and promotion policy,
and non-compliant apps will be rejected.
Play developer accounts are intended for active developers
who publish and actively maintain apps.
To prevent abuse, we're closing accounts that are inactive
or abandoned after a year of dormancy
including any data associated with it.
These accounts include developers who never uploaded an app
or haven't accessed Google Play Console in a year.
We will make exceptions for apps that have over 1000 installs
or have in-app purchases in the last 90 days.
And of course, before we close any dormant accounts, we will notify the developer.
We'll send 60, 30, and 7-day warnings.
If your account was closed because it was dormant,
you'll be able to create a new account in the future
if you'd like to publish on Google Play.
But you will not be able to reactivate your account,
and any previous apps or data will not be available on your new account.
We've also added other policy updates and clarifications.
Please visit the developer policy center for full details.
And now, let's look at some key enforcement dates.
On the top, you see deadlines from some of our recent policy updates.
We've extended the grace period for changes that may take developers
more time to adjust to.
And on the bottom, you see updates from previous policy updates.
A couple key reminders here.
Existing apps must comply with our Payments policy update by September 30th.
By August 2nd, all new apps using Play Billing must use Billing Library 3 or 4.
By November 1st, all updates to existing apps using Play Billing
must use Billing Library 3 or 4.
As a reminder for developers who are adapting to our updated Payment policy,
we have resources to help you understand how the policy applies to your app.
Check out our Help Center article, Play Academy course,
or last September's PolicyBytes video for details like:
What purchases require Google Play's billing system?
What purchases are not supported by Google Play's billing system?
And frequently asked questions.
For most developers, you'll need to comply by September 30th, 2021.
We hope this helped you better understand our policies.
For free courses on all things Google Play policy,
visit our Google Play Academy at g.co/playacademy/policy.
Thank you for continuing to partner with us
to make Google Play a trustworthy platform for everyone.
Until next time, stay safe and healthy out there.