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Large-scale purge of Google Play announced: banning fakes and limiting spyware

The policy for publishing applications on Google Play has been greatly updated: now developers are prohibited from publishing misleading applications, and surveillance tools must clearly inform about themselves. You can read about other innovations and more about these on the official page.

One of the key innovations that all users will notice concerns the ban on fake applications – programs that pretend to be others or imitate a relationship with a brand. From September 30, the following will be considered a violation of the rules:

  • falsely implying a relationship with another company/developer/organization;
  • icons and names that falsely hint at a connection with another company/developer/organization;
  • icons and names that are so similar to those in existing products that they can be misleading;
  • apps that falsely claim to be official (apps with names like Justin Bieber Official are no longer allowed without the necessary permits);
  • games and programs that violate the Android Brand Guidelines.

Google has given special attention to spy apps, which are constantly being debated: on the one hand, they can be used for spying, but, on the other hand, they can be really useful as a tool of education or the ability to track a person in an unsafe place. To avoid malicious use, from November 1, such applications will be required to:

  • not be described as a solution for espionage or covert surveillance;
  • not hide or mask its tracking features, or mislead users about this functionality;
  • constantly notify the user that the application is running and have a unique icon that clearly identifies the program;
  • report monitoring or tracking features in the description for Google Play;
  • do not include means to access features that violate the Google Play policies (for example, links to APK installation files outside of Google Play);
  • comply with all applicable laws – developers are solely responsible for determining the legality of their application in the target region.

Developers whose applications already violate the above rules will have 30 days to make the necessary changes.

Source: Trash Box

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