Policy announcement: July 27, 2022

Upcoming new policies

• We’re adding new guidelines to our Ads policy to improve the in-app user experience and to prohibit unexpected interstitial ads, inspired by the Better Ads Standards - Mobile Apps Experiences guidelines.
• We’re introducing new requirements for the FLAG_SECURE declaration under our Device and Network Abuse policy stating that all apps must respect the FLAG_SECURE declaration and must not facilitate or create workarounds to bypass the FLAG_SECURE settings in other apps.
• We’re introducing new requirements under our Permissions policy to state that all apps must have acceptable core functionalities to use VpnService class. We’ve also added guidance on key requirements for using VpnService class.
• We’re introducing a new restricted permission requirement for Exact Alarm API, stating that apps must only declare this permission if their core functionality requires an exact alarm. Apps declaring the new restricted permission that do not meet these criteria will not be permitted on Google Play.

Policy updates

• We’re updating health misinformation guidelines to state that we don’t allow apps containing misleading health claims that contradict existing medical consensus, or that can cause harm to users.
• We’re updating our Impersonation policy to clarify that the policy prohibits impersonation of other entities or organizations.  We’ve also added some new examples regarding app titles and icons.
• We’re updating our Subscriptions policy to state that users must be able to easily cancel their subscriptions from within the app.
• We're updating our Families Self-Certified Ads SDK Program to require that self-certified ads SDK providers must submit new policy-compliant, self-certified versions and a test app to remain in the Families Self-Certified Ads SDK Program.
• We’re updating our existing stalkerware guidance with a monitoring apps flag "IsMonitoringTool" for all legitimate monitoring applications. All apps that use this tool must also disclose monitoring or tracking functionality in their Google Play store description.

New examples and clarifications

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

• We’re clarifying our Child Endangerment policy to reinforce that we prohibit the use of apps to endanger children, including the facilitation of child trafficking, grooming, and sextortion.
• We’re clarifying our Families Data Practices policy to state that apps that solely target children must not transmit Android advertising identifier (AAID), SIM Serial, Build Serial, BSSID, MAC, SSID, IMEI, and/or IMSI. Apps that target both children and older audiences must not transmit AAID, SIM Serial, Build Serial, BSSID, MAC, SSID, IMEI, and/or IMSI from children or users of unknown age.
• We’re consolidating health and medical-related policies into an easy-to-navigate page.
• We’re clarifying our Ads policy to emphasize that ads and their associated offers served in your app must be consistent with your app's content rating.
• We’re clarifying our Ads policy to state that the Ad ID may no longer be connected to a persistent identifier or personally-identifiable information for any purpose including analytics purposes.
• We’re clarifying our Made For Ads guidelines under our Spam policy to prevent apps from displaying interstitial ads repeatedly to distract users from engaging with an app and performing in-app tasks.
• We’re moving country-specific guidelines from our Real-Money Gambling, Games, and Contests policy page to a link on our Gambling Application Form for easier reference.
• We’re clarifying our sensitive events definition and examples under the Inappropriate Content policy to state that we don’t allow apps that capitalize on or are insensitive toward a sensitive event with significant social, cultural, or political impact (for example, civil emergencies, natural disasters, public health emergencies, conflicts, deaths, or other tragic events).
• We're clarifying Privacy Policy guidelines under our User Data policy to state that all apps must post a privacy policy link in the designated field within Play Console and a privacy policy link or text within the app itself. We’re also specifying that privacy policies must be publicly accessible and non-geofenced.