Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google has mandated apps that create user accounts to also allow for account and data deletion within the app and through the web. The enforcement deadline for app developers is May 31, 2024.
- Ahead of the deadline, the “Account deletion available” badge is now live in the Google Play Store within app listings. It highlights how you can request that your data or account be deleted.
- This makes it easy to easily delete app accounts and data without needing to reinstall an uninstalled app.
Last year, Google introduced a new rule for the Google Play Store, targeting apps that enable app account creation. If an app allows an account to be created, then the developer is mandated to allow the account to be deleted within the app and through the web for the app to remain listed on the Play Store. Google mentioned that Play Store will show these data deletion practices in listings “early next year,” and these changes are now finally going live for users.
Android Authority contributor Assemble Debug spotted that the Google Play Store has begun surfacing the “Account deletion available” badge in the Data Safety section within the App listings.
Since December 2023, Google has been pushing developers to include information about app account deletion in their store listings. Developers can request an extension until May 31, 2024, after which non-compliant apps may face “additional enforcement actions” in the future, such as removal from the Google Play Store. With the data deletion badges now live, we’re very close to that enforcement deadline, so app developers shouldn’t count on any more extensions coming their way.
Google’s data deletion policy states that developers must provide data and account deletion options from within their apps and on the web. This way, if a user has uninstalled an app, they need not reinstall the app to request their data or account be deleted. App developers who need to retain certain data for legitimate reasons, like regulatory compliance, need to disclose those data retention practices.
Have you spotted the new data deletion highlights in the Google Play Store? What do you think of them as app users? Let us know in the comments below!