{"id":348175,"date":"2020-04-17T08:20:35","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T06:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=348175"},"modified":"2020-04-17T08:27:12","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T06:27:12","slug":"google-cracks-down-on-untrustworthy-android-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/software\/348175-google-cracks-down-on-untrustworthy-android-apps.html","title":{"rendered":"Google cracks down on untrustworthy Android apps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Google has announced several changes to its <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/about\/updates-resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Play Store policies<\/strong><\/a> which are targeted at removing untrustworthy apps from the platform.<\/p>\n<p>Apps published after 16 April will be subject to these updated policies immediately, while other apps will have 30 days from 16 April to comply.<\/p>\n<p>Apps which do not comply with these policies will be removed from the Google Play Store platform.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the changes are outlined below.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Deceptive Behaviour<\/h3>\n<p>Notable changes have been made to the Google Play Store&#8217;s Deceptive Behaviour policies, with Google&#8217;s goal being to identify and emphasize functionally deceptive apps.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Apps must provide an accurate disclosure, description and images\/video of their functionality in all parts of the metadata and should perform as reasonably expected by the user,&#8221; the new policy states.<\/p>\n<p>Apps must also not attempt to mimic functionality or warnings from the operating system or other apps, and any changes to device settings must be made with the user&#8217;s knowledge and consent.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Manipulated Media<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t allow apps that promote or help create false or misleading information or claims conveyed through imagery, videos and\/or text,&#8221; said Google.<\/p>\n<p>It said apps that manipulate or alter media beyond editorially acceptable adjustments &#8211; like, for example, airbrushing a photograph &#8211; must &#8220;prominently disclose or watermark altered media when it may not be clear to the average person that the media has been altered&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>It said that exceptions can be made to content in the public interest, or for obvious satire or parody.<\/p>\n<p>This policy change appears to be targeted partially at deepfakes, and examples of &#8220;common violations&#8221; include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"content__list\">\n<li>Apps adding a public figure to a demonstration during a politically sensitive event.<\/li>\n<li>Apps using public figures or media from a sensitive event to advertise media altering capability within an app&#8217;s store listing.<\/li>\n<li>Apps that alter media clips to mimic a news broadcast.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Subscription<\/h3>\n<p>Google also said that apps which offer subscription services must be transparent about the offer.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This includes being explicit about your offer terms, the cost of your subscription, the frequency of your billing cycle, and whether a subscription is required to use the app,&#8221; said Google.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Users should not have to perform any additional action to review the information.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Examples of common violations include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"content__list\">\n<li>Monthly subscriptions that do not inform users they will be automatically renewed and charged every month.<\/li>\n<li>Annual subscriptions that most prominently display their pricing in terms of monthly cost.<\/li>\n<li>Subscription pricing and terms that are incompletely localized.<\/li>\n<li>In-app promotions that do not clearly demonstrate that a user can access content without a subscription (when available).<\/li>\n<li>SKU names that do not accurately convey the nature of the subscription, such as &#8220;Free Trial&#8221; for a subscription with an auto-recurring charge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Updates have also been added to the Google Play Store&#8217;s Malware, Families, Families Ads, Monetization, and Location policies.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Now read: <a href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/security\/347907-hackers-are-selling-zoom-zero-day-exploits-for-over-r9-million-report.html\" rel=\"bookmark\">Hackers are selling Zoom zero-day exploits for over R9 million \u2013 Report<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google has announced several changes to its Play Store policies which are targeted at removing untrustworthy apps from the platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341039,"featured_media":163498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[10100,9557,9439],"class_list":["post-348175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software","tag-google-play","tag-google-play-store","tag-google-privacy-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348175"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341039"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":348193,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348175\/revisions\/348193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}