Google Play privacy policy requirements: a checklist
Every app needs a privacy policy, including apps that collect nothing. This checklist is drawn from Google’s User Data policy.
The basics
- All apps must post a privacy policy link in the designated field in Play Console, and a privacy policy link or text within the app itself.
- Apps that don’t access any personal or sensitive user data still have to provide one.
- The Data safety form requires a privacy policy link, and the two need to agree.
What the policy must contain
Per Google, the policy must, together with any in-app disclosures, “comprehensively disclose how your app accesses, collects, uses, and shares user data, not limited by the data disclosed in the Data safety section.” It must include:
- Developer information and a privacy point of contact or a mechanism to submit inquiries.
- The types of personal and sensitive user data your app accesses, collects, uses and shares, and any parties it is shared with.
- Secure data handling procedures for personal and sensitive user data.
- Your data retention and deletion policy.
- Clear labelling as a privacy policy (for example “Privacy Policy” in the title).
Identity
The entity named in your Google Play store listing (developer or company) must appear in the privacy policy, or the app must be named in it. Put your app name and developer name in plainly.
URL rules
- Active, publicly accessible and non-geofenced.
- No PDFs. Use a web page.
- Non-editable. Avoid a public wiki or a shared doc anyone can change.
- Reachable from inside the app.
Account deletion
Google’s policy summary says that if your app lets users create an account, you must provide a clear and accessible way to delete the account, and delete the associated user data on request, “rather than merely freezing the account.” Read the full policy for the exact scope and any exceptions.
Keep it consistent
If you add an SDK that collects data, update both the privacy policy and the Data safety form. Mismatches are an easy way to get flagged.
This is a checklist of what Google asks for, not legal advice. Privacy laws in your users’ locations may impose additional requirements, so consider getting professional advice.
Want help keeping the streak alive?
Day15 is a do-it-yourself kit we’re building for developers going through this: an opt-in streak tracker, tester reminder emails, Data safety answers drafted from your app’s permissions, a privacy policy, and drafted production-questionnaire answers. It’s in development, nothing is charged today, and the early-bird price is planned at around $15 one-time.
Sources (Google’s own help pages)
Facts about Google Play rules on this page were checked against these pages on Oct 29, 2026. Google changes its policies and Play Console UI; if something here disagrees with Google’s page, trust Google. Practical advice is labelled as ours. This is an independent guide by Anchor Point Apps LLC, not legal advice, and not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.