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Starting July 20, all developers who publish Android apps in the Google Play store must detail what data they collect and how they use it. However, this undeniably positive innovation has been rather overshadowed by the forces of “optimization”: now, before installing an app, you have no way of knowing what data sources it’s tapping. We give a brief overview of what’s changed and explain how to assess the risks to your privacy going forward.
What’s changed
In April of this year, Google implemented a new feature on Google Play to allow developers to specify what data apps collect and for what purposes. As of July 20, this option became mandatory: developers that don’t add such descriptions risk having their apps removed from the store.
