Google this week announced a new set of Play policy updates to strengthen user privacy and protect businesses against fraud, even as it revealed it blocked or removed over 8.3 billion ads globally and suspended 24.9 million accounts in 2025.
The new policy updates relate to contact and location permissions in Android, allowing third-party apps to access the contact lists and a user’s location in a more privacy-friendly manner. This includes a new Contact Picker, which offers a standardized, secure, and searchable interface for contact selection.
“This feature allows users to grant apps access only to the specific contacts they choose, aligning with Android’s commitment to data transparency and minimized permission footprints,” Google said.
Previously, apps requiring access to a specific user’s contacts relied on READ_CONTACTS, an overly broad permission that granted apps the ability to access all contacts and their associated information. With the latest change introduced in Android 17, apps can specify which fields from a contact they need, such as phone numbers or email addresses, as opposed to reading the entire record.
The updated policy will require all applicable apps to use the picker (or the Android Sharesheet) as the main way to access users’ contacts, with READ_CONTACTS now reserved only for apps that can’t function without it. It’s advised to entirely remove the READ_CONTACTS permission from the app manifest declaration if it’s targeting Android versions 17 (currently in beta) and later.
“If your app requires full, ongoing access to a user’s contact list to function, you must justify this need by submitting a Play Developer Declaration in the Play Console,” Google noted.
The second policy change revolves around a streamlined location button that Google has introduced in Android 17 that enables apps to request one-time access to a user’s precise location. In doing so, it allows the user to make a better choice about how much information they want to share and for what duration. What’s more, a persistent indicator will appear to alert a user every time a non-system app accesses their location.
To comply with this update, developers are being urged to review their apps’ location usage to ensure that they are requesting the minimum amount of location data necessary for them to function.
“If your app targets Android 17 and above and uses precise location for discrete, temporary actions, implement the location button by adding the onlyForLocationButton flag in your manifest,” the tech giant said. “If your app requires persistent, precise location to function, you will need to submit a Play Developer Declaration in Play Console to show why the new button or coarse location isn’t sufficient for your app’s core features.”
The declaration form is expected to be available before October 2026, with pre-review checks in the Play Console to go live starting October 27 to identify potential contacts or location permissions policy…
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