Google banning call recording apps from Play Store
Google has announced a new policy for developers banning them from offering call recording in apps published on its Play Store.
The new policy was initially announced on 6 April 2022 and was picked up by Reddit user NLL-APPS two days ago.
Google previously disabled call recording capability in Android 10, stating that the feature threatened user privacy.
App developers circumvented this by using the Accessibility API to enable call recording.
However, in the new policy, Google states explicitly that the API is not designed and cannot be requested for remote call audio recording, effective from 11 May 2022.
NLL-Apps is the developer of a call recording app on the Play Store with a million downloads.
They criticised the change, arguing that it would only force users to search for apps that can perform call recording outside the Play Store, potentially exposing them to harmful software.
Popular third-party call-screening app TrueCaller also has a built-in call recording feature, which is likely to be affected by the change.
A Google webinar on the new policy clarified that it would not impact apps set as the default and come pre-loaded on the device, so OEMs could still include the capability in their stock apps.
Google itself offers call recording capability through the Google Phone app, exclusively available on its Pixel smartphones.
Samsung and Xiaomi have also been providing a recording feature in their respective stock Phone and Dial apps for some time.
However, manufacturers or carriers disable these features in certain regions due to possible legal ramifications, which seems to be the case in South Africa.
MyBroadband could not find call recording features on several Samsung and Xiaomi smartphones in our office.
Under the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act (RICA), you do not have to get consent to record calls you are party to in South Africa.
Although the law says that you must generally give consent before a recording can take place, this is aimed at regulating the interception of communications by third parties.
RICA provides for the following circumstances under which you may record without consent:
- If you are a party to the conversation.
- If you have the prior written consent of at least one of the parties to the conversation.
- If the conversation relates to, or occurs in the course of, the carrying on of your business.
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