TECH

Google will make it easier to remove accounts from Android apps

Google is following Apple’s lead and for apps that require an account to work, it will force developers to offer the option to remove that account when uninstalling the app. What’s more, such a possibility is also to be added on the website and available from the Google Play store.

Google gives users control...Today, practically every application on a smartphone encourages us to create an account, provide our data, email address and consent to the newsletter. Naturally, wanting to use such an application, we politely provide all this data, and when it later turns out that we do not use the application at all, they remain in the database anyway. From here it is only a short way to some leak, in which our email and / or phone get into the network and we are exposed to various types of phishing attacks. Therefore, Google intends to force developers to provide the option to delete their data from the level of a given application, as well as through the website, the link to which will be available on the application card in the Google Play store.

In this way, getting rid of the application itself, we will also be able to easily make sure that our data will also be deleted. In some cases, Google allows the possibility of retaining data for a longer period, but then the application auto must inform how they are stored and whether they will be safe. What’s more, application developers will have to delete not only our data, but also all activity related to our account, i.e. photos or videos. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a bit longer for these changes to be implemented. Google will now collect responses to a survey related to the implementation of this solution until December 7, 2023, and the first implementations should appear early next year. Developers will also be able to apply for an extension of the period needed to implement changes, but this must be done no later than May 31, 2024.

A similar solution is also offered by Apple in the App Store, where it was implemented in June 2022, and the only significant difference is that Apple requires the ability to delete an account from the application level. There is no need to create a dedicated website, where it can be done without installing the application itself.

by Kamil Pieczonka