Google Play starts letting developers fill out ‘Data safety’ info, section launching in February

Abner Li | Oct 18 2021 - 9:21 am PT

Back in May, Google announced a new Play Store requirement to have Android apps detail how they collect and use personal information. The Google Play “Data safety” section will go live in February as developers will soon be able to fill out the necessary information.

Starting today, the “Data safety” form will appear in the Google Play Console. It will be fully available for “everyone within a couple of weeks,” while the company has provided additional guidance in the Help Center, developer guide, and Play Academy course.

We understand that completing the form may require a meaningful amount of work, so we built the product and timeline based on developer feedback to make this process as streamlined as possible. Also, developers have asked for a way to more easily import information when they have multiple apps. Therefore, we’ve added an option for developers to import a pre-populated file.

Play Store users will see the Data safety section in February 2022. Appearing below “About this app,” Google summarizes show “Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data.”

At a glance, the section highlights what data an app collects and shares, as well as whether data is encrypted in transit, can be deleted, follows the Families policy, or has undergone independent review. Tapping shows much more information.

Google is targeting April 2022 for when “all your apps must have their Data safety section approved.” After February, “No information available” will be shown for apps that have not submitted or been rejected.

We recommend that you review the guidance and submit your form early so you can get review feedback and make changes before rejected forms prevent you from publishing new app updates.