Google’s next big privacy update will require apps to become more transparent

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Taking a play straight out of the Apple playbook, Google has decided that the Google Play app store will soon require apps to display details about all of the data that they collect. The company is planning on implementing this new privacy feature next year.

Google announced the plans for this updated feature in conjunction with Apple’s recent update of its own privacy policy. Like Apple, Google will require apps to display what kind of data it is collecting as well as how that data will be used in the future. Google’s update will also require apps to display certain other information.

This new safety section will also include information like whether or not the app utilizes security measures like encryption. Apps will also now display whether or not users can request to not have their data collected or if they will be able to request their data be deleted at any time.

Google has said that this update is an effort to help increase transparency between app developers and users about how and why certain data is collected and used. While the new policy aims to give users the power when it comes to control of their own data, the company also wants to ensure that developers have the tools necessary to explain how personal data is collected and how it can be used to improve an app’s functionality.

This new privacy feature will soon be required by all apps on Google Play, including Google’s own apps. The feature will be slowly rolling out, giving developers of existing apps time to update their products accordingly.

The deadline for this new requirement will be sometime around the middle of 2022, but developers will have to update their apps sometime later this year.

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