As requirements for the protection of citizens’ privacy become more stringent around the world, application developers also have to pay more attention to compliance with privacy rights and data collection policies.
The good news is that Google’s internal Area 120 incubator has just launched a compliance check service called Checks for Android app developers. The service is currently in beta testing, and interested developers can submit a registration application on the official website.
Co-founders Nia Castelly and Fergus Hurley noted that Checks not only help mobile app developers understand the data processing of their apps but also automate privacy compliance.
We’ve heard from developers complaining that they struggle to keep up with changes in app store and privacy regulations, and see how these changes will affect their apps. The emergence of Checks is designed to resolve this embarrassment.
By identifying potential compliance issues, providing actionable insights in simple, detailed language, and providing links to relevant resources, Checks makes it easy for developers to make informed and confident decisions.
Specifically, developers can submit their apps to the Checks platform for scanning, and the system will analyze them and generate a data usage statement for the app store.
The primary purpose of the Checks service is to assess whether the application’s privacy policy deployment complies with the necessary legal obligations.
Also check functionality helps developers understand how their applications and software development kits (SDKs) are collecting and processing data in compliance with stated permissions.
Officially, Checks includes a store disclosure creation/monitoring tool and compliance data monitoring service and supports multiple platforms such as iOS.
But there is no doubt that it will mainly serve the Android mobile platform dominated by Google, and it will pave the way for the new version of the Google Play privacy and security policy that will be implemented in April 2022.
In addition to the free version, Checks also offers three subscription options, the core (Core), advanced (Premium) and enterprise (Enterprise) version of the monthly fee per app is $249 / $499 / negotiated pricing.
If you need to evaluate the compliance of your app in the US (CCPA / COPPA), EU (GDPR), Brazil (LGPD) and Google Play Store, you may wish to refer to the above functional differences to make a choice.