Google Play Now Shows How Apps Will Use Your Data

Google launched a “Data safety” section in its Play app own on Tuesday. The feature is meant to show people guarantee and privacy guidelines before they download an app, such as how data is composed, protected and used.

“We heard from users and app developers that displaying the data an app collects, without additional context, is not enough,” Google said in a post. “That’s why we planned the Data safety section to allow developers to clearly mark what data is populate collected and for what purpose it’s being used.”

The allotment shows:

• Whether the developer is collecting data, and for what purpose.
• Whether the buyer is sharing data with third parties.
• The app’s guarantee practices, like encryption of data in transit and whether users can ask for data to be deleted.
• Whether a qualifying app has committed to following Google Play’s families policy, which is designed to better protect children in the Play store.
• Whether the buyer has validated its security practices against a global guarantee standard (more specifically, the Mobile Application Security Assessment).

Google announced the Data guarantee section in July, and it covers both first-party and third-party app developers. The feature is similar to Apple’s “nutrition labels” for apps. 

You also now have more rule over what data downloaded apps can access. For example, if an app asks to access your location, you can settle to grant permission for onetime use, for use only after using the app, or for use all the time. You can also go to the Android Privacy dashboard to study what level of access your apps have.