In October of 2012 California’s Attorney General, Kamala D. Harris stated they would start enforcing the California Online Privacy Protection Act to mobile applications. The OPPA requires that “an operator of a commercial web site or online service that collects personally identifiable information through the Internet about individual consumers residing in California who use or visit its commercial web site or online service shall conspicuously post its privacy policy”. For us developers and app designers it means to better start including privacy policies into our creations, or we run the risk to be fined rather unhealthy sums. Since the California AG and the Department of Justice along with six Tech giants (the six companies, Amazon, Apple, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Research in Motion, make up over 95 percent of the market) have agreed to rework the way privacy policies are displayed in app stores, the tone against apps without privacy policies has stiffened and these companies are actively reaching out to fix that situation.
Amazon App Store for Android: privacy policy required (of you collect PII, personally identifiable information)
If you are an Amazon App Store for Android developer you have likely received an email asking you to take steps according to their outline:
Dear Mobile App Developer, Customer privacy is important to us, and we know it is important to many of you too. That’s why we want to make sure you know how to include links to your privacy policy on product detail pages for your apps. We require all apps that collect personally identifiable information or personal information to provide a link to their privacy policy, so if you haven’t already done so, please take a moment to submit the privacy policy link for each of your apps today. It’s quick and simple to do. Please follow these steps to update the product detail page for your app with a link to your privacy policy (…)
This is what the guide “Publishing Android Apps to the Amazon Appstore” says:
Privacy policy URL (optional): If your app includes account creation or otherwise collects personal information from users, you must enter an URL for your app’s privacy policy.
Amazon app privacy stance: this means you are now required to provide a privacy policy for your app on the Amazon app store. For your convenience I will repeat the steps to take here:
- Sign into the Amazon Mobile App Distribution Portal with your developer account
- Go to the My Apps page then click on your app name
- Click on Edit in the bottom right corner of the page
- Add a link to your privacy policy in the Privacy Policy URL field, then click Save
What do I have to include in the app’s privacy policy?
Here’s where we come in. Here’s a report by the California Department of Justice with actionable data and best practices for you to follow. It’s a great start into crafting a privacy policy for the Android/Amazon store. However, if you are looking for a solution to create your privacy policy with just a few clicks very conveniently for you: look no further. Soon with mobile support.
