Google Play Developer Term Violation

Damn, just got this. This is the Developer Terms Violation, not the Ad one like in the other thread.

Anyone else get it?


REASON FOR WARNING: Violation of section 4.3 of the Developer Distribution Agreement.

We classify user information including but not limited to, email address, phone number, name, social media account information, and contacts as private and confidential information.

An app downloaded from Google Play (or its components or derivative elements) which transmits this information off of the device without making this clear to the user and obtaining the user’s explicit consent are regarded as being in violation of section 4.3 of the DDA.

The weird thing is that I didn’t think my permissions even allowed access to those things:
<uses-permission android:name=“android.permission.INTERNET” />
<uses-permission android:name=“android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE”/>
<uses-permission android:name=“android.permission.MOUNT_UNMOUNT_FILESYSTEMS”/>
<uses-permission android:name=“android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE” />
<uses-permission android:name=“android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE” />

My paid apps didn’t get the warning, so it’s probably one of my ad networks.

I’m using:
AdMob
AppBrain
AppLovin

Hello, I had received the same message for a lot of my apps (30% of all my apps) : 7-Day Notification of Google Play Developer Term Violation

REASON FOR WARNING: Violation of section 4.3 of the Developer Distribution Agreement.

We classify user information including but not limited to, email address, phone number, name, social media account information, and contacts as private and confidential information.

An app downloaded from Google Play (or its components or derivative elements) which transmits this information off of the device without making this clear to the user and obtaining the user’s explicit consent are regarded as being in violation of section 4.3 of the DDA.

Your app will be removed if you do not make modifications to bring it into compliance within 7 days of the issuance of this notification. If you have additional apps in your catalog, please also review them for compliance. Note that any remaining apps found to be in violation will be removed from the Google Play Store.

Please also consult Policy and Best Practices and the Developer Distribution Agreement as you bring your apps into compliance.

All violations are tracked. Serious or repeated violations of any nature will result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts. If your account is terminated, payments will cease and Google may recover the proceeds of any past sales and/or the cost of any associated fees (such as chargebacks and transaction fees) from you.

The Google Play Team

Apps that have this message are:

  1. All my apps are free
  2. Have ads
  3. Some have AdMob
  4. Some have LeadBolt HTML Banner
  5. All have LeadBolt HTML Wallpost
  6. All have AppBrain SDK

Did you just get it today?

Damn, I think it might be [shudder] AppBrain. I thought they’d be safe.

Yes. Today.

But I have another apps (70% of all my apps) that also have AppBrain SDK but didn’t received any warning.

Also a little update:
Not all my apps that received Google warning use AdMob SDK, but all of them include AdMob SDK jar into their APK files.

Also I have noticed that all apps have Appayable Android Lib in bin/dexedLibs folder of my Eclipse project. But I don’t use this Library in that apps.

Screen Shot 2013-11-26 at 5.17.24 AM.jpg

But in Build Path there is no such Appayable library

Screen Shot 2013-11-26 at 5.19.18 AM.jpg

Did you update your app recently ? If so, what changed in the previous version ?

Hi, I too just received 9 of these messages. I only use AdMob (banners and interstitials). I have absolutely no idea what could be wrong.

Some of my apps have webviews of my websites (with contact forms), while others have nothing, except About Us section, with links to my “brand” websites, social media, etc. Users can also share the app via the sharing button. And that’s it.

What can be done? I’m trying to contact GP support.

Hi
I got the message for 2 of my 3 apps. I think the problem for me is the the Appayable lib. But how to be sure? Is it possible to contact them?

App 1 : AdMob, Inmobi, Google Analytics, Appayable => WARNING
App 2 : AdMob, Adbuddiz, Google Analytics => nothing (Appayable present in /libs and Manifest but not code)
App 3 : Admob, Adbuddiz, Chartboost, Google Analytics, Google Play Services (BaseGameUtils), Facebook SDK (not used in code), Appayable => WARNING

I got this message even for pro version of application, that have only one permission: com.android.vending.CHECK_LICENSE.
Where can I get some support email?

Hi, do you use any jars in your pro version in lib folder? May be you use this jars in light version and left them in pro but don’t use that jars?

I got 6 of these emails last night.
Some of the apps had Appayable running, but some just had their sdk listed in the dexedLibs folder, as best_budy had.
The thing is that I tried to build two apks, one with the sdk listed in the dexedLibs and one without, unzipped both apks and tried to find any differences, but couldn’t find any. So I have no proof that files listed in the dexedLibs folder get their way into the final apk in any way, even as a reference or something.
Still, this is the only thing in common I can find, as I got an email for an app that only currently uses AdMob and GoogleAnalytics, and also got an email for a widget app that doesn’t use these these two at all. The only thing in common is that both had Appayable in their dexedLibs folder.

Please share everything you learn about this matter, so we’ll be able to keep our apps published when the week ends.

Again, I got 25 emails like this. Part of them have Appayable insight and two of them is pro version without AD. So it’s not looks like some library issue.
If I understand correctly, the addition of EULA on app starting should help. Anyway I contacted Google for clarification. I hope they will respond.

I have also received this email for 4 applications. I am using admob, startapp, minimob, appbrain.
I have used Appayable in the past (at least 6 months ago) can’t seem to find any trace of them in my project. But I notice that there
many of us in this thread that use/have used appayable.

How does smebody contact Google? just reply to their email?

Google support almost never reply to emails or replay with huge delay in 2 weeks :frowning:

I think that in this 2 PRO apps you will find Appayable in bin/dexedLibs folder (as I find in my Eclipse project). Maybe Google robot scan apk files for some triggers that have this library. First trigger i think is :

<uses-permission android:name=“android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS” />

But maybe some triggers inside the classes. Maybe some keywords or something

Hi all,

I am a 100% sure about that! I only received those warnings for apps that had GET ACCOUNTS at some point.

Even if the App has been updated several times without the “Get Accounts” I still got the email.
I have a paid app (no ads, no analytics) with only one HTML file in it (kind of ebook app) and it had “get accounts” for a couple of days back in October, but has been updated without the “get accounts” 2 weeks ago.

I am kind of clueless how to fix this, since updating the app wont help.
Should adding a privacy policy URL in the store do it?
Should adding an EULA inside that app do it?

So, is AppBrain safe or not? Is there anyone without Appyable, StartApp and GET_ACCOUNTS permission that got the warning?

At the same time I have few apps that never had android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS in any previous versions but that apps also received warning (they only had Appayable jar in bin/dexedLibs folder).

Nobody knows. Because I have a lot of apps with AppBrain that didn’t received warning. But some received.

I don’t have the GET_ACCOUNTS permission in the current version. I used Appayable in the past which I think is the guilty party.
I logged to my appayable account and I see that the applications that received the warning appear as active. (Even though
I don’t use appayable since at least 6 months)

It could be that some people download from some other app store, but is it possible that some devices get an older version
(with appayable) because some app feature does not allow the newer app versions?

I tried Appayable quite a while ago as well. That seems to be the common theme. The weird thing is that I’d also tried Appayable in my paid versions at the same time which didn’t get the warnings. Both versions have been updated several times since then with Appayable removed.