Google Previews New Safety Section on the Google Play Store

Google offered a glimpse at what the new safety section might look like.

Following Apple's initiative to add privacy "nutrition labels" to apps on the App Store, Google has decided to introduce the same concept to the Google Play Store. Google debuted a preview of the new safety section, which will display information about an app's privacy and security policies.

The Google Play Store Is Getting More Transparent

Google first announced the safety center in May 2021, but didn't give us a glimpse of what that might look like until now. Google offered a preview of the upcoming section in a post on the Android Developers Blog.

The panel provides a brief overview of the app's privacy and security policies. It will show you whether or not the app collects data, if the data can be deleted, the app's encryption protocol, as well as if the app complies with Google's Families Policy.

If you want more detail, you can tap the panel to see exactly what kind of data the app collects (if any), such as your name, email address, location, and contacts. You can also see a more in-depth look at how your data is used, and whether or not data collection is optional.

Although the design looks pretty put together right now, Google says that it's still subject to change. The safety center isn't set to go live until the first quarter of 2022, so it will still be quite a while until we start seeing it on the Play Store.

The release date is set far in the future in order to give developers time to adjust and figure out the information they need to submit. Developers can start inputting safety information in the Google Play Console in October 2021, and Google is encouraging them to get a headstart.

In April 2022, Google will require that all apps have a privacy policy and an approved safety section. Otherwise, developers may risk having their app submissions or updates rejected. If the developer doesn't provide the required information, the safety section will say "No information available."

Read Before You Download

Google is a little late to the app transparency party, considering that Apple has already implemented privacy "nutrition labels" on the App Store.

But now that Google has finally caught up, it will give you a better idea of what kind of app you're downloading. An app's policies on data collection may be the difference between whether or not you decide to download an app.

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