Google Play will require that all Android apps let users delete data

Abner Li | Apr 5 2023 - 9:30 am PT

Google is continuing its work on Data safety in the Play Store by requiring that developers provide a way for users to delete their account data.

Currently, the Play Store’s Data safety section just lets developers declare that “You can request that data be deleted.”

Moving forward, apps that allow account creation (from within the application), “must also allow users to request for their account to be deleted.” This deletion option must be “readily discoverable” inside the app and outside, like on the web. The latter requirement means a “user can request account and data deletion without having to reinstall an app.”

Developers will have to provide those links to Google, with the Play Store directly surfacing that URL in the app listing.

Google specifies that Play developers must “delete the user data associated with that app account.”

Temporary account deactivation, disabling, or “freezing” the app account does not qualify as account deletion. If you need to retain certain data for legitimate reasons such as security, fraud prevention, or regulatory compliance, you must clearly inform users about your data retention practices (for example, within your privacy policy).

Impacting all apps globally, Google is slowly rolling out this policy requirement given the work that devs will have to put in:

As a first step, we’re asking developers to submit answers to new Data deletion questions in your app’s Data Safety form by December 7. Early next year, Google Play users will begin to see reflected changes in your app’s store listing, including the refreshed data deletion badge in the Data safety section and the new Data deletion area.

This includes letting developers file for an extension (via Play Console) until May 31, 2024.