Google is adding the app permissions section back to the Play Store
Google says it is reversing its decision to remove a section from the Play Store that stated what permissions an app uses. The company had more or less replaced that information with the Data Security section, which should give you an idea of what data apps collect and how that data is used.
The problem, as several commenters have pointed out, is that the information in the Data Security section comes from developers, while the app permissions section is Google-generated. By removing it, Google made it impossible for users to do a quick fact-check by comparing the two sections or use the information from both to get a more complete picture of what an app does and what it accesses. has.
In a Twitter thread on Thursday spotted by android policeGoogle says the app permissions section will return soon and it’s made the decision to bring it back because of user feedback. At the time of writing, I couldn’t see it on my device, but when the section returns, it should be available along with the Data Security section.
The Data Security section provides users with a simplified view of how an app collects, shares, and secures user data, but we also want to make information about app permissions easily visible to users to understand an app’s ability to access specific restricted data and actions.
— Android developers (@AndroidDev) July 21, 2022
Google’s Data Security section, which it announced in May 2021 and started rolling out in April this year, is similar to Apple’s privacy labels. Developers must tell Google what they do with users’ data (such as whether it is shared with third parties and what type of data the app collects) and provide other information, such as whether users can request that their data be deleted and whether the data is encrypted. While Google says only developers know those details, it says it will take action against an app if it finds inaccuracies in its data security data.
