Privacy Policy

This post answers the important question how and why you must add a privacy policy to your Android app.

What do you need to do and be aware of if you want to include a privacy policy into your Android application?

Do I have to include a privacy policy in my Android app? That depends on what your app is doing. Consider that you are always on the safer side including a link or a full page view of your privacy policy. It is very likely that you are required by law to include a privacy policy into your Android app. Easy check: Am I collecting/storing/sharing personal information like email, names or sensitive data such as payments information or am I using a third party service that accesses that information? You are likely using a third party service in your app that requires you to add a privacy policy. In addition to any legal requirements, third parties often require a privacy policy as an additional prerequisite to use a specific service. Check in your service provider’s terms. A very popular third party service that requires you to post a privacy policy in their TOS is Google Analytics (they also have a mobile solution).

If you do not want to add a privacy policy at the moment very first moment you create the app, you can check the box next to Not submitting a privacy policy URL at this time (see screenshot above) on the Store Listings screen of your application in the Google Play Developer Console. Follow the instructions above to view that screen.

A lot of people ask for sample privacy policies for apps. Let’s start with the legal minimum requirements. A good starting point is the California Online Privacy Protection act (CalOPPA), and even better Europe’s minimum requirements since they are more refined: