Google launches a new security section on the Play Store

Google has launched a new security section in the Play Store designed to show users various details such as data collected by apps and how they are used, the company announced.

This new section will gradually be rolled out to users in the coming weeks, and app developers have until July 20 to add this information to their app list. It seems that this section may not be immediately visible to everyone. This initiative was first announced last year.

According to Google, this section is an attempt to give users more information and some context about their privacy policies. This will list the data that each creator collects, whether they shared it, and their security practices. There will also be information about whether the creator is following the Google Play Families Policy, as well as whether their security practices have received appropriate third-party verification.

More information about what creators need to reveal can be found on this site support page. According to the page, tampering with the app’s data collection practices or not filling out this same section could mean that app updates have been blocked and may be removed from the Play Store. The page reads, “Even app creators that do not collect user data need to fill out this form and provide a link to their privacy policy.”

Newly discovered transparency in the Play Store follows the release of a similar feature in the Apple App Store in late 2020.

But Google’s support page notes that its security section isn’t necessarily a direct counterpart to Apple, so creators can’t expect to provide exactly the same information for both. The page reads “The rating and structure of the data security section on Google Play may differ materially from that used in other application stores.”

This move is part of Google’s ongoing efforts to ensure that Play Store apps respect user privacy. Earlier this month, it announced several plans to limit the availability of legacy apps on the Play Store, in an effort to ensure that apps available for download are used with Android’s latest privacy and security features.