Know How Google Will Tell You Which Android App Is Monitoring Your Personal Information
Google is working to make Android apps more transparent in terms of how they track and process your confidential data. Developers are now required to give additional information about their apps on the Google Play Store. “Developers will have to provide its app users a detailed information into their privacy and security procedures, as well as clarify what data the app may gather and why,” according to Google.
On the listing page of the app column, there will be a new “Data privacy & security” feature that will explain what kind of data the app collects, such as locations, banking details, user activity, if data can be erased or not, how information is shared, and so on. It will also display whether the app adheres to Families policy and has undergone an “independent security analysis” or not.
Users can check the links to learn more about each app’s privacy settings. The feature is expected to be released later this year or early next year, according to Google. Google has also released new user privacy policies that require developers to clarify how users’ personal information is used.
In Google’s official blog post, the company said that “Developers must be clear in how they manage user data (e.g., information gathered from or about a user, including device information)”. That means revealing the app’s data access, collection, usage, and sharing, as well as limiting the data’s use to the stated purposes.”
Additionally, if the app manages private or confidential user data, the developer must provide extra requirements in the “Personal & Sensitive Information ” portion. These requirements of Google Play are supplementary to any requirement issued by data privacy and protection legislation.
For apps such as that deal with financial or payment information or any government identification number, the developer must ensure that the app “shall never publicly expose any private or confidential user data relating to any banking or payment actions, or any government identity numbers.”
You have complete control over which activities are saved to your account:
You can specify which types of activity are saved in your Google Account using your Activity settings. These preferences apply to all devices associated with your account.
You can modify these options at any moment, as well as check or remove your recorded activity.
Activities that can be tracked:
You can choose whether or not to save the following activity using your Activity controls:
Web & App Activity: It collects your searches and other Google activity to speed up searches and provide you with personalized experiences in Search, Maps, and other Google products.
Location History: It generates a personalized map of where you go with your signed-in smartphones, allowing for more accurate map searches, commute routes, and other features.
YouTube history: Your search history to speed up upcoming searches and refine your recommendations.
Watch history to find your already watched videos faster, avoid getting suggestions for videos you’ve previously watched, and enhance your recommendations.