Following Apple’s footsteps, Android has announced a new account deletion policy for its apps, according to which the apps that offer account creation must have an easy way to delete the account as well. Starting from 7th December, the company will ask developers to answer questions regarding their app’s data deletion in the Data Safety form.
Account Deletion Policy to Better Reflect the Available Data Controls
The search giant said that the company will tweak the Data Safety section on the Play Store to better reflect the data controls available to them. In this regard, the developers’ response to the form will be reflected in Google Play’s Data Safety section, which provides users with information about an app’s data collection practices in the form of labels.
Google also mentioned that in the coming year, users will start seeing data deletion badges on Google Play apps that have completed their forms and modified their code to allow account deletion. The company is keen on providing an extended grace period until 31st May 2024, for developers who might need some time to implement the policy.
Developers Must Also Delete Users Data After Account Deletion
The account deletion policy requires developers to delete the user data from their servers once the account is deleted. In case, a developer needs to keep user data for specific reasons, they must specify that in the app. “As the new policy states, when you fulfill a request to delete an account, you must also delete the data associated with that account. The feature also gives developers a way to provide more choice: users who may not want to delete their account entirely can choose to delete other data only where applicable (such as activity history, images, or videos). For developers that need to retain certain data for legitimate reasons such as security, fraud prevention, or regulatory compliance, you must disclose those data retention practices,” said Google.
Also read: Google Reportedly Working on Its Own Location Tracker Like AirTags
