PROPERLY FUNCTIONING APP THAT DOES NOT VIOLATE PRIVACY TO BE PULLED BY GOOGLE PLAY FOR NO VALID REASON WITH NO REASONABLE EXPLANATION
Page updated on: 1/4/19
Note: The following contains various excerpts from back-and-forth correspondence between us and Google Play from late 2018 to early 2019 concerning the issue referenced above (i.e. a speed dial app no longer being allowed to dial - its whole reason for existence!). Formatting herein may differ from original emails.
We were advised in late 2018 that Google Play changed their permissions policy "that will limit which apps are allowed to request Call Log and SMS permissions. This policy will impact one or more of [our] apps [Speedy Dial!]." They indicated that "Only an app that has been selected as a user's default app for making calls or text messages, or whose core functionality is approved for one of the exception use cases, will be able to request access to Call Log or SMS permissions."
Since they instructed that...
<<If your app is a default handler or you believe your app qualifies for an exception: Please submit a request via the Permissions Declaration Form>>
...we proceeded to submit the required form.
They subsequently notified us that Speedy Dial! was "ineligible". They stated...
<<"I've reviewed your request and found that your app, Speedy Dial!, com.bfsnet.speedydial, does not qualify for use of the requested permissions for the following reasons:
The declared feature "Initiate a phone call [Refer to Help Center for available alternatives.]" is ineligible for these permissions.>>
We appealed and noted that...
<<There is a problem here! A speed dial app OBVIOUSLY has to be able to dial phone numbers. How else could it work? Please correct things on your end as there is nothing wrong with the app.>>
Our appeal was denied. They stated...
<<I've reviewed your appeal request and found that the app (com.bfsnet.speedydial), does not qualify for use of [READ_CALL_LOG, WRITE_CALL_LOG, PROCESS_OUTGOING_CALLS, SEND_SMS] for the following reason:
The declared feature "Initiate a phone call [Refer to Help Center for available alternatives.]" is ineligible for these permissions.
You need to ensure that your app no longer uses these permissions; failure to do so could result in the removal of your app and may impact your developer account.
Permission requests should make sense to users. You may only request permissions that are necessary to implement critical current features or services in your application. You may not use permissions that give access to user or device data for undisclosed, unimplemented, or disallowed features or purposes. For additional guidance, please review the Permissions policy and this Play Console Help Center article.>>
We responded...
<<Then please advise specifically how a speed dial app could possibly function without those (obviously necessary) permissions?
We have already indicated that we do NOT receive information from users regarding their contact information or calls. From the app's description...
"Concerned about privacy? Rest assured that neither your contact information (i.e. names, phone #'s) nor information about calls you make is sent to us."
You can verify that this is a truthful statement. You can also verify that the app only works as users would expect and does NOTHING nefarious. We welcome you to check it out. In fact, we hope you will.
And now, again, how specifically can a speed dial app work without the (obviously necessary) permissions?>>
In their rather curt response, they stated...
<<As much as I'd like to help, I'm not able to provide any more information or a better answer to your question.
In our previous email, I made sure to include all the information available to me.>>
We replied as follows...
<< Then please pass this up to someone there who will be able to provide a suitable answer.
Again, the question was...
<<And now, again, how specifically can a speed dial app work without the (obviously necessary) permissions?>>
This is a perfectly reasonable question that deserves a reasonable answer. So again, please pass this up to someone there who will be able to provide this answer. >>
We followed up on the above, but have yet to hear back. While waiting for their response, we received a "final notice" that Speedy Dial! would be pulled.
We regret any inconvenience this may cause to our users.
Please Note: Our Speedy Dial! app may still be
available on Amazon's Appstore (try
here). [As of 5/2023, due to incompatibility with newer Android operating systems, we have regrettably withdrawn Speedy Dial! from Amazon's Appstore. We apologize for any inconvenience.]
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