Google Doubling Down On Efforts to Protect Android Users

With the rise in the in-application subscription scams on Android, Google subsequently announced the introduction of new Play Store policies intended to forestall such scams in the near future.

The American multinational technology additionally pledged to provide Android users with direct assistance in the form of notifications when a trial is going to turn into a paid subscription, or a subscription is going to renew consequently.

The new policies announced that demand application developers offer clear info about the obligations associated with subscription models and free trials, and provide a simple and easy way through which users can cancel subscriptions. These latest policies are a small part of a more extensive Google campaign, aimed especially at ensuring the privacy and security of Android users.

The newly announced policies focus mostly on fleeceware, a form of application that ‘manipulates’ trial periods and membership models to defraud victims. This kind of application usually burdens the user with complex terms and conditions, further enshrouding unjustifiable subscription commitments.
As a component of the new prerequisites, developers must distinguish with enough clarity between features accessible free of cost and those accessible only to paying subscribers. Thus, Google will convey an admonition to users when a free trial is set to end or when a subscription longer than three months is because of turn over.

The firm will likewise give warnings if a user endeavors to uninstall an application attached to an on-going subscription.

The new policies are said to take effect on June 16, so users should take particular consideration whenever handling of in-application subscriptions on Android in the meantime.

Apart from this, the company took the initiative to remind developers that its new assessment procedure will produce results in August, which will require developers to gain approval from Google before requesting location data from the end-user.

Further Play Store ‘tweaks’ are likewise in the pipeline, which will reportedly address issues related to illusive content and applications.