This includes my residential address, which is now publicly visible.
I’ve requested removal multiple times. Google has refused.
I didn’t agree to have it published. I asked them to remove it. They said no.
I asked them to delete my app. They said no.
I asked them to close my account. They said no.
This is a massive violation of privacy and it puts real people in danger.
Please share your thoughts on what to do next.
1. Have a lawyer send them a letter. A legal firm's letterhead will get taken more seriously than an email or Contact Us, and may force them to respond in some way.
2. Spin up a corporation and have it "acquire" your product.
Use a law firm or other provider as the registered address. If that's not possible in Sweden, incorporate in a jurisdiction outside your country. (This may have an impact on how you get paid, taxes, etc. but that might not matter if you're planning to unpublish).
3. Quantify your damages (eg. cost of above, security firm to do a home assessment, mitigations like installing security cameras, etc.) and litigate.
Unfortunately it can be hard to quantify damage to privacy (check for any precedents in the applicable jurisdiction's case law), and you may have already agreed to terms that prejudice this. Be sure to keep track of any disgruntled user feedback that makes you feel even mildly threatened in any way, any increase in unsolicited mailings, etc.
4. Get a short term rental somewhere, change the address to that, never update. Or use a friend who's about to move or doesn't care (eg. change the address on one of your credit cards to theirs for a billing cycle).
This isn't nice to whoever winds up at that address next.
5. Move, and don't update them with your new address.
6. Instead of selling your old home at the poisoned address, contact your local fire department and offer it as a controlled burn site for training. Scorch the earth and never look back.
Or, somewhat less satisfyingly, donate the land to your municipality as a park. Subject to a clause it be named something like "Alphabet's Reach" in perpetuity, and commission some kind of permenant concrete art installation to forever memorialize their betrayal.
I guess we have to read that as virtue signaling: if you aren’t here to make money, go away. Interestingly, they choose a quite stupid way to do so, when they could just straight forward charge a recurring fee like Apple does.
It seems pretty antiquated though and can be putting people at risk. Maybe there should be some form of indirection here where the government can be responsible for notifying you in cases like this and you can indicate who you are suing based on based on either the business or some sort of more opaque identifier.
Not to mention that an address is a bad identifier as it is not unique, becomes invalid/more confusing over time among other reasons.
(The UK has basically one exception, for Huntingdon Life Sciences, after their directors were subject to an extremely intense harrasment campaign by animal rights activists)
You can see the correspondence addresses for the former directors of Huntingdon Life Sciences in their record at Companies House: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/c...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_agent
It seems funny to me that government considers these information as privacy-sensitive while also publishes them for majority of population (homeowners).
Does the Play Store not allow deleting apps? What reason did they give?
I don't know why the OP is choosing not to unpublish the app.
[0] https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ...
But in both cases, seems to me that at least for monetised apps, providing identifying information is important for consumer protection and therefore they have legitimate reason to do this.
Just engaging Google's legal machinery is probably the only way to get their attention
In Sweden, we have a public registry for personal addresses, and that’s the only one Google accepts.
Edit: Nevermind, seems like they don't allow them.
My app is a free app, and their policy (which I don't agree with) states that private home addresses will only be shown for monetised apps.
To my surprise, Google published my home address for a free app. My account is new too, and address verification is a requirement for getting your developer account approved.
That's specific to credit theft, but a great many of the principles apply to many situations:
- Approach via the legal dept, since their objective is to remove risk, rather than close tickets.
- Know your rights under the law
- Act like a relentless professional not an angry amateur .
But read the article, it's worth it
I've found quoting exact provisions of statutes to be very effective (just be careful to be right).
I'm not expecting it to be speedy or effective. Another channel is writing a formal letter requesting your GDPR rights to deletion on paper, to the UK business address https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/c...
We all know that online support is a waste of time. In some ways, HN is one of the actually effective support channels.
In general, support has the incentive of making tickets go away. Compliance has the incentive of making sure the company doesn't run afoul of regulators. Compliance is also much much more powerful at an organizational level.
GDPR is EU, UK is not. how does this work? surley the UK didn't adopt the GDPR voluntarily?
[0] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679/contents
[1] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/12/contents/enacte...
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-and-the...
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679/contents
https://uk-gdpr.org/
And like you've a fair bit of company, to make common cause - whether paying solicitors, or raising a ruckus.
This only shows in the Google Play app, not on the website.
But Google (and D&B, who you need to also sign up for if you are a business) ban most PO boxes and other virtual mailbox/office services. I had to try a few times, but eventually I found one that they accepted.
Also the Microsoft Store does the same thing with addresses. idk about Apple, I don't publish there. Probably there is some law forcing everyone to do this.
I'll explore all options available to me.
I managed an online community for tens of thousands of people for 18 years. The domain was registered to a fake address, but once I started accepting ads, I had to register a business and list my home address in the public records.
I dealt with hundreds of advertisers, and the most obvious risk was that an adversary contacts me to publish an ad, gets my company details, checks online for company address and comes ripping my heart off.
Over these years, I received multiple online threats from various people... but none have ever have showed at my door step.
I still wonder why.
Did the users I blocked and banned never really felt offended because I tried to be professional and predictable in all circumstances?
Or was it just because finding my personal address required a bit of ingenuity which the most egregious perpetrators simply lacked?
P.S. And no, this was not a gaming community nor anime lovers forum, but a place where immigrants turned in for help.
P.P.S. Before downvoting... think again about the responsibility you take on when people pay you money in return for your service.
OP mentioned their app is free
Back to my story... my online community was also free to join. This does not change much.
Once you start interacting with the world, expect the world to interact with you.
Leverage the GDPR and contact Google's DPO (Data Protection Officer) to inform them about the problem. If the problem is not solved or there is no reaction, lodge a complaint with the DPA (Data Protection Authority).
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/10/17/developers-eu-app-store...
You don't need a DBA (doing business as) registered with the state for this, but it helps build a business narrative for the IRS and business purposes. And then you can use it in lieu of your name.
Although I've now lost interest in publishing on the play store.
Therefore you can list the "box" as a "unit" number, or "ste" (suite) or "apt" (apartment). Ask the 3rd party service prior to contracting.
I had such a service in NYC (they're common, lotsa businesses love having a Suite address on 5th Ave, or whatever).
I'd test it before committing to a long term contract though.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ContractorUK/comments/1gka8lq/virtu...
Your best bet is the privacy watchdog in your country.
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/10/17/developers-eu-app-store...
IANAL
I'll be exploring the privacy watchdog, as you've advised.