Provide information for Google Play Console's Data safety section

Scripture App Builder
#1

How could we complete this questionnaire for SAB apps?

Earlier this year, Google announced new policy requirements for the upcoming Data safety section in Google Play. In the questionnaire, you are asked to provide information about the user data collected or shared by your app. The information provided will be also shown on your store listing to help users better understand your app’s privacy, security, and data handling practices before they download it.

Timeline

  • February 2022: Users will see the Data safety section in Play store

    • If your information is not approved, your section will say “No information available.”

  • April 2022: Deadline to have your privacy policy and Data Safety form approved.

    • Without an approved section, your new app submission or app update may be rejected. There may also be additional enforcement actions in the future.

Read more - https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/10787469

#2

Hello,

It mostly depends on what Analytics you use. Also, if you use the User Accounts feature that was recently added.

Firebase hasn’t published any information yet.
https://firebase.google.com/docs/android/play-data-disclosure

FCBH Digest Analytics doesn’t collect location information from the app. I have suggested to FCBH that it would be good to have a statement to help App Builders know how to report data safety if using FCBH Digest Analytics.

As for Amplitude, I cannot find any statement about Google Play Data safety.

#3

With no analytics enabled, nor user accounts, nor deep linking… is it safe to say no off phone storage?

Specifically:

  • Do any of the “sharing” features require disclosure, or

  • Is there any communication between SIL and the app?

#4

@Michael_H

If you do not have analytics, user account, nor deep linking, I don’t think there is any data disclosure.

Chris

#5

What about data collection?

Here is the first page of the form:

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The list of “required data types” is quite long:

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I’d imagine that the next two pages would be pretty simple if we answer ‘No’ to all three of the questions on this first page, but I honestly don’t know what these apps are collecting. (I do have some apps with FCBH Analytics and some without.)

Thanks for any guidance you can give for this,
Matt A

#6

I’m assuming that this is the answer for those apps that aren’t running analytics:

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Is that right?

As @jkurian postedd above, here is the Help document that I have pasted these images from.

#7

Thanks @Matt_A - I think Firebase and other analytics collects data which are represented under “App activity” and “App info and performance” in the above screenshots, but I think Firebase hasn’t published any info about the data disclosure yet.

#8

Is there any kind of guide for how to fill out this form?
What about if we are using FCBH Analytics?

#9

The only data type FCBH analytics is collecting is App activity → App Interactions. See details here.

SDK Data Types Collected Shared Processed ephemerally? Required or Optional?
FCBH Analytics App interactions Yes Yes No Optional

The below screenshots are for users who have ONLY enabled FCBH Analytics, not Google Firebase or Branch.io or other services.

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See this document for additional information if you have enabled Firebase or Branch.io.

Please note, this is not an exhaustive list - I have compiled this based on the available information. If you still get the data safety form rejected by Google, please post the details here so that someone from the community can help you.

#10

So, I thought I’d filled in the data safety sections to claim “we collect no data” and was OK, but now the console says the app is prevented from updates because the data safety section is incomplete, and looking into it, even when I say I’m not collecting data it wants a link to a privacy statement.

I’m a few months or more away from being able to spend time investigating this. Is there are boilerplate privacy statement that means “we collect no data” available? I’m not working on any updates so if it’s safe to wait until I can focus on this, that’s fine. But one of the emails about this months ago mentioned Google “may take further actions.” I don’t want to see the app go dark or get removed.