Probably because all apps are now required to target the latest api, which means most permissions are done by user prompts, and not just by downloading the app.
Given that modern apps are dozens or hundreds of megabytes, on a slow connection I'd really like to avoid having to download the app just to learn it requires permissions it doesn't need.
The iPhone has worked like that (to various degrees) for a long time. But Apple still added their privacy label things to tell me if an app is going to try to track my location.
I don’t want to download a clipboard helper of some kind and find out it’s going to ask for my GPS coordinates.
Apple's Privacy Labels and Google's equivalent in the Play Store are unrelated to permissions.
An app may have permission to do something (e.g. access your location), but if the app's usage of this feature does not involve your location being sent to the app's server and stored somewhere, it does not need to be disclosed in the privacy labels.
Apple and Google cannot verify what happens with your data when it leaves the device - they rely on the honesty of developers to explain what happens.
I believe Google is addressing that concern via the new Data Safety block.
This is a better approach for the goal, because if there's one thing they learned from years of offering the permissions list, it's that users can't convert the concept of "app permissions" into a good mental model of "What data the app can collect on me." They just aren't on average savvy enough. So the Data Safety info answers the question users actually care about without added complexity of pretending the average user is a developer who groks what permissions mean.
So now I have to install an App to discover it wants access to things I don't feel comfortable giving it access to, uninstall it, and then go into my profile and disassociate the app from my Account?
That sounds so much easier than just listing the possible permissions it might ask for on the Store Page before I install it.
skykooler|3 years ago
blip54321|3 years ago
MBCook|3 years ago
I don’t want to download a clipboard helper of some kind and find out it’s going to ask for my GPS coordinates.
I want to know ahead of time.
daveoc64|3 years ago
An app may have permission to do something (e.g. access your location), but if the app's usage of this feature does not involve your location being sent to the app's server and stored somewhere, it does not need to be disclosed in the privacy labels.
Apple and Google cannot verify what happens with your data when it leaves the device - they rely on the honesty of developers to explain what happens.
shadowgovt|3 years ago
This is a better approach for the goal, because if there's one thing they learned from years of offering the permissions list, it's that users can't convert the concept of "app permissions" into a good mental model of "What data the app can collect on me." They just aren't on average savvy enough. So the Data Safety info answers the question users actually care about without added complexity of pretending the average user is a developer who groks what permissions mean.
izacus|3 years ago
cptskippy|3 years ago
That sounds so much easier than just listing the possible permissions it might ask for on the Store Page before I install it.
unknown|3 years ago
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