Google announced that the total number of apps banned for violating Google Play Store policies throughout 2023 will exceed 2.28 million as a result of investment in developing and improving security features. She stressed that it has enhanced the preparation and review process for application developers. Ford requires more credentials when you first create a Google Play developer account.
Steve Kafka and Khawaja Shams, representatives of the Android Security and Privacy team, and Mohit Saxena, privacy representative at Play Trust and Safety, share information on how Google will address bad apps and bad actors in 2023, saying they are implementing the SAFE principles to provide a safe and reliable user experience that works on Google Play
“We've implemented our SAFE principles to provide this experience to users and app developers. This is what it means in practice, with the 'S' standing for protecting our users. By helping them find high-quality apps they can trust, the 'S' stands for Advocate for Developer Protection and supports security for app developers It builds security into the platform so app developers can focus on growth (F) stands for Fostering Responsible Innovation, which promotes responsible innovation carefully unlocking value for everyone without compromising user security and (E) Evolve Platform Defenses aims to improve platform security and stay ahead of new threats by evolving our policies, tools and technologies.”
Google confirms that under these principles, the company has made improvements in various fields. And continue to announce new measures to help protect users on Google Play from threats. Which is constantly evolving
“In 2023, we blocked 2.28 million violating apps from publishing on Google Play, in part due to our investments in developing and improving security features. Policy Updates Using advanced machine learning and app review processes, we've also strengthened our onboarding and review processes for app developers. We're asking for more From credentials when you first create a Google Play developer account, and through these actions, along with investments in our verification tools and processes, we can more effectively identify bad actors and fraudsters and block 333,000 bad actor accounts that violate our policies, such as accounts that “It has been confirmed to be malware and has repeated serious violations of Google Play policy.”
Additionally, nearly 200,000 app requests were denied or edited to ensure appropriate use of sensitive permissions, such as background location or SMS access, to help protect user privacy on broadly sensitive data. This leverages over 31 privacy SDKs affecting over 790,000 apps.
“Not only that we've also significantly expanded the Google Play SDK index. The index currently covers SDKs used in nearly 6 million apps across the Android ecosystem, and helps developers make better SDK choices, improve the quality of their apps, and reduce integration risks.”
Building on the success of the Application Defense Alliance (ADA), Google has joined Microsoft and Meta as steering committee members of the newly restructured Application Defense Alliance (ADA) within the Joint Development Foundation, part of the Linux Foundation that will support the adoption of application security best practices and recommendations. . Including measures to deal with security risks that will be used throughout the industry.
Additionally, Google has launched a new transparency flag in the Play Store to highlight VPN apps that have passed an independent security review using its mobile app security assessment (from the App Defense Alliance's Mobile Application Security Assessment (MASA), when users search for VPN apps, they will now see a banner at the top of Google Play identifying them with the “Security inspection by independent organization” badge in the Information Security section. This lets users quickly know that your app developer is committed to security and privacy best practices and is committed to maintaining user safety
To better protect customers who install apps outside of the Play Store, Google says it has enhanced Google Play Protect's security capabilities by scanning apps in real-time at the code level to combat new apps. Dangerous Google's security and machine learning algorithms learn from every app submitted to Google for review, and we examine thousands of signals and compare in-app behavior. This new capability has detected more than 5 million new malicious apps outside the Play Store, helping protect Android users around the world.
As for more stringent requirements and guidelines for developers, Google has confirmed that over the past year, the company has updated Google Play policies regarding notifications of Genetic AI applications that annoy users. Enhancing privacy protection, it also tightened requirements for new personal application developer accounts. App developers with newly created personal accounts must meet new testing requirements before they can make their apps available on Google Play App Testing Receiving feedback and making sure everything is ready before launch helps app developers deliver high-quality apps to users on Google Play.
“We've also increased verification requirements for app developers. This includes enterprise DUNS numbers and an updated 'About Developer' section. To increase trust and transparency in Google Play”
Google is looking to give users more control over their personal data. Apps that allow account creation must have the option to perform account and data deletion within the app and on the web. This is where web link requirements are particularly important. This allows users to request deletion of account and data without having to reinstall the app. To simplify this, Google has also included deletion of data as a feature in the data security section of the Play Store.
Each iteration of the Android operating system (which includes different APIs) offers various improvements aimed at improving the user experience. Supporting security protocols and improving the overall performance of the Android platform To protect Google customers, approximately 1.5 million apps in the Play Store that do not target the latest API level will no longer be available to new users who update their Android devices to the latest version.
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