In a new Play Store policy, Google will be making it easy
for users to delete their accounts created on apps, as revealed by the company
in a recent blogpost. The deletion rule, both in the app and on the web, will
ensure deletion of accounts along with deletion of apps, so users wouldn’t be
bothered to reinstall an app if they did not delete their account prior to
deleting the app for any reason.
Google plans to bring this rule to Play Store with the integration of a data deletion field that will link users to the web address for account deletion. Developers will “need to provide an option to initiate account and data deletion from within the app and online,” Google says.
It is important to note that temporary deactivation or freezing
of accounts will not lead to their deletion. Moreover, app developers will be required
to delete user data along with their accounts, with exception for legal or
security reasons to keep the data, for which developers will also need to
provide details to Google of their data retaining process.
Additionally, the policy will give users the choice to
delete specific data where applicable, like activity history, images, or videos,
in case they wish to not delete their account entirely.
The policy isn’t expected to go into effect right away, and will first require developers to report details of their data deletion practices to Google by 7th of December via Google’s data safety form. This information will be accessible to users by next year.
