Following Apple, Google Announces a New Account Deletion Policy for Android Apps

It has become a norm these days for tech companies to follow each other in different domains. It was evident yesterday when the search engine giant Google announced a new account deletion policy for Android applications. The policy requires apps that enable account creation to also provide a simple option to cancel the account. The new regulation seems to follow Apple’s implementation of a similar regulation on the App Store on June 30, 2022.

Furthermore, Google stated that it will begin implementing the new regulation early in 2024.  By December 7, the business will need developers to respond to questions on the app’s data elimination in the Data Safety form. The developer’s answers to the form are displayed in the Data Safety section of Google Play. The section offers consumers with labels containing information about an app’s data-gathering practices.

Google stated that with this new policy, the business would modify the Data Safety section of the Play Store to more accurately represent the existing data controls. The search giants said that consumers will begin to see data deletion badges on Google Play for applications that have completed their forms and changed their code to enable account termination starting early in 2019.

Google also made an announcement about the new regulation. It said,

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.

Furthermore, the search engine behemoth stated that applications must include “an option to initiate account and data deletion from within the app and online” and that the capability must be readily accessible. In addition, the policy mandates that developers erase user data from their servers when an account is deleted. If a developer needs to retain user data for a specific purpose, they must indicate so in the app.

The company will give developers an extended grace period until May 31, 2024, if they require additional time to do this. However, they must apply explicitly using the Google Play interface.

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