Policy announcement: October 25, 2023

You’ll have at least 30 days from October 25, 2023 to comply with the following policy changes, unless noted otherwise below. For deadlines and resources, go to the Policy Deadlines page.

New and updated policies

• To help ensure generative AI apps are safe for users, we’re reminding developers that all genAI apps must comply with our policies. We’re also requiring that certain genAI apps have user reporting or flagging features.
• For a more privacy preserving experience for users, we’re introducing the Photo and Video Permissions policy to reduce the number of apps permitted to request broad photo/video permissions (READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO). Apps may only access photos and videos for purposes directly related to app functionality. Apps that have a one-time or infrequent need to access these files are requested to use a system picker, such as the Android photo picker.
• To give users a better experience, we’re introducing new limitations for using the USE_FULL_SCREEN_INTENT permission. For apps targeting Android U (API level 34) and above, we’re changing this permission to a special app access permission. Only apps whose core functionality requires a full screen notification will be granted this permission by default. All other apps will need to request permission from the user.
• We’re adding a new Health apps policy under “Health Content and Services” to introduce new requirements for apps that fall under the Health apps categories. We’re also updating the policy to reflect current public health guidance.
• We’re updating our Personal Loans policy to state that we’re expanding the documents we will accept as proof that personal loan apps in Thailand are operating in accordance with local regulations.
• To provide a safer and more predictable experience for child users, we are updating our Google Play Families Ads and Monetization policy to disallow ads practices that are not clearly identifiable as advertising by child users. App developers and SDK providers will need to ensure that their ads are not presented as offerwalls and that their ad closing functionality does not immediately trigger a new ad.
• We’re clarifying our User Generated Content policy to explain how different UGC experiences may require different in-app moderation efforts.

Additionally, we’ve added clarifications to some of our existing policies. Because these changes aren’t new or updated, our enforcement standards and practices remain the same.

• We are clarifying the Deceptive Behavior policy to include additional examples of misleading claims.
• We’re updating the examples in our Sensitive Events policy.
• We’re clarifying our Financial Services policy to emphasize personal loan apps may not access sensitive permissions and must comply with our Permissions policy.