Google’s adding the app permissions section back to the Play Store after removing it

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

There was a section in the Play Store that listed which permission an app used. The Data Safety section of the company gave you an idea of what data apps are collecting and how that data is used.

The problem is that the information in the Data Safety section came from developers, while the app permission section was generated by the internet company. It was not possible for users to do a quick fact-check by comparing the two sections or using the info from both to get a more complete picture of what an app is up to.

The app permission section will be coming back soon, according to a thread on Thursday that was spotted by the police. When the section comes back, I should be able to see it on my device.

The Data safety section provides users with a simplified view of how an app collects, shares, & secures user data, but we also want to make app permissions information easily viewable for users to understand an app’s ability to access specific restricted data & actions too.

— Android Developers (@AndroidDev) July 21, 2022

Apple's privacy labels are similar to the data safety section of the internet giant. Developers have to tell Google what they do with users' data, such as whether it's shared with third parties and what kind of data the app collects, and provide other info. If an app is found to have inaccuracy in the data safety information, it will be taken down.