"Even Top-Ranked Android Apps in Google Play Store Provide Misleading Data Safety Labels"
An analysis of data safety labels for Android apps available on the Google Play Store revealed major loopholes that allow apps to present misleading or incorrect information. The Mozilla Foundation conducted the study as part of its "Privacy Not Included" initiative, which compared the privacy policies and labels of the 20 most popular paid apps and the 20 most popular free apps on the app store. It discovered that the labels were inaccurate or misleading in around 80 percent of the apps analyzed, based on differences between the apps' privacy policies and the information apps self-reported on Google's Data safety form. According to Mozilla, the apps are not self-reporting accurately enough to provide the public with significant confidence about the safety and privacy of their data, and users are being made to feel these apps are doing a better job preserving their privacy than they are. This article continues to discuss discrepancies between Google Play Store's data safety labels and privacy policies of nearly 80 percent of the reviewed apps.