Google has announced a new policy for Android applications, which will allow users to delete their accounts and data. The aim is to give users greater transparency and control over their personal information. The policy will require developers to provide a button within the application for users to initiate the account removal process, and also provide a link to delete the account and any related data. If a user requests the deletion of their account, the developer must comply and remove all account-related data.
Google has made it clear that turning off or “freezing” an application account will not qualify as deletion. Additionally, developers can offer users alternatives for selective deletion of only part of their data instead of deleting the entire account.
To ensure compliance, developers must reveal in advance which data storage methods will be used to preserve certain data for security reasons, preventing fraud or compliance with regulatory requirements.
The new policy is expected to come into force in early 2023. It remains unclear whether any forced measures will be taken against developers who do not follow the rules.
This news comes after Mozilla Foundation accused Google of misleading users with discrepancies between privacy policies and information provided by developers in Google’s Play Store applications.