The Chrome Web Store is often the forgotten, poorer cousin to the flashy, always changing and lets face it, far more used Google Play Store. But just like the Play Store, Google is keen to ensure people using the Chrome Web Store are protected from potentially harmful downloads. Today they’ve announced updates to the User Data Policy for Chrome Web Developers with a focus on user privacy.
The change, which consolidates, as well as expands on existing policies regarding user data is to ensure that users have control over their browsing experience. The updated policy essentially ensures that Chrome Web Developers offer protections and control to users.
The changes to the policy include:
- Be transparent about the handling of user data and disclose privacy practices.
- Post a privacy policy and use encryption, when handling personal or sensitive information, and
- Ask users to consent to the collection of personal or sensitive data via a prominent disclosure, when the use of the data isn’t related to a prominent feature.
The Chrome Web Store delivers applications and extensions to users which can harness some fairly powerful APIs within Chrome that can affect users negatively if used nefariously.
Chrome Extensions or Apps have been used negatively in the past, after Chrome Devs have sold a popular or well used extension or application and future updates have added previously unannounced ‘features’ or malware not in the original spec such as ‘collection of web browsing activity when it’s not required for an item’s main functionality’.
Interested Chrome Developers can check out the full Developer Program Policy on the Chrome Developers site.
