Marshmallow and User Data

Posted by Joanna Smith, Developer Advocate and Giles Hogben, Google Privacy Team

Marshmallow introduced several changes that were designed to help your app look after user data. The goal was to make it easier for developers to do the right thing. So as Android 6.0, Marshmallow, gains traction, we challenge you to do just that.

This post highlights the key considerations for user trust when it comes to runtime permissions and hardware identifiers, and points you to new best practices documentation to clarify what to aim for in your own app.

Permission Changes

With Marshmallow, permissions have moved from install-time to runtime. This is a mandatory change for SDK 23+, meaning it will affect all developers and all applications targeting Android 6.0. Your app will need to be updated anyway, so your challenge is to do so thoughtfully.

Runtime permissions mean that your app can now request access to sensitive information in the context that it will be used. This gives you a chance to explain the need for the permission, without scaring users with a long list of requests.

Permissions are also now organized into groups, so that users can make an informed decision without needing to understand technical jargon. By allowing your users to make a decision, they may decide not to grant a permission or to revoke a previously-granted permission. So, your app needs to be thoughtful when handling API calls requiring permissions that may have been denied, and about building in graceful failure-handling so that your users can still interact with the rest of your app.

Identifier Changes

The other aspect of user trust is doing the right thing with user data. With Marshmallow, we are turning off access to some kinds of data in order to direct developers down this path.

Most notably, Local WiFi and Bluetooth MAC addresses are no longer available. The getMacAddress() method of aWifiInfo object and the BluetoothAdapter.getDefaultAdapter().getAddress() method will both return02:00:00:00:00:00 from now on.

However, Google Play Services now provides Instance IDs, which identify an application instance running on a device. Instance IDs provide a reliable alternative to non-resettable, device-scoped hardware IDs, as they will not persist across a factory reset and are scoped to an app instance. See the Google Developer's What is Instance ID? help article for more information.

What’s Next

User trust depends largely on what users see and how they feel. Mishandling permissions and identifiers increases the risk of unwanted/unintended tracking, and can result in users feeling that your app doesn’t actually care about the user. So to help you get it right, we’ve created new documentation that should enable developers to be certain that their app is doing the right thing for their users.

• Understand how permissions and user data are linked
• Learn more about the best practices for permissions
• Discover the best practices for unique identifiers, with clarity based on changes in Marshmallow.

So happy developing! May your apps make users happy, and may your reviews reflect that. :)

棉花糖推出了旨在帮助您的应用程序看起来用户数据几经修改。我们的目标是让开发者更容易做正确的事情。因此，作为Android的6.0，棉花糖，收益牵引，我们挑战你做到这一点。

这篇文章突出了用户信赖的关键因素，当涉及到运行权限和硬件标识符，并为您指出新的最佳实践文件，以澄清在自己的应用程序瞄准。

更改权限

随着棉花糖，权限已经从安装时转移到运行时，这是SDK 23+强制性的改变，这意味着它会影响到所有的开发者和指定的Android 6.0的所有应用程序。您的应用程序将需要更新无论如何，所以你的挑战是如此深思熟虑做。

运行权限，意味着你的应用程序现在可以请求在上下文敏感信息的访问，它会被使用。这给你一个机会来解释权限的需要，没有吓跑用户请求一个长长的清单。

权限现在也组织成组，以便用户能够作出明智的决定，而无需了解技术术语。通过允许用户做出决定，他们可能会决定不授予许可或撤销先前授予的权限。所以，你的应用程序需要考虑周全处理的API调用，可能已被拒绝，要求权限时，以及有关建设优美的故障处理功能，使您的用户仍然可以使用您的应用程序的互动。

标识的变化

用户信赖的另一个方面是做用户数据正确的事情。随着棉花糖，我们正在关闭访问某些类型的数据，以直接开发这条路。

最值得注意的是，本地WiFi和蓝牙MAC地址不再可用。该getMacAddress（）一的方法WifiInfo对象和BluetoothAdapter.getDefaultAdapter（）的getAddress（）。方法都将返回02：00：00：00：00：00从从今起。

然而，谷歌播放服务现在提供实例ID，它识别设备上运行的应用程序实例。实例ID提供给非复位，设备范围的硬件ID一个可靠的替代，因为它们不会跨越恢复出厂设置仍然存在，被限定在一个应用程序实例。看到谷歌开发者什么是实例ID？帮助文章以了解更多信息。

下一步是什么

用户的信赖取决于它们在很大程度上哪些用户看到和感受。处理不当的权限和标识符增加不必要的/意外跟踪的风险，可能会导致用户感觉你的应用程序并不真正关心用户。因此，为了帮助你得到它的权利，我们已经创造了新的文档应该使开发人员能够确定他们的应用程序是做正确的事为他们的用户。

• 了解如何权限和用户数据 ​​被链接
• 了解更多有关其权限的最佳实践
• 探索的唯一标识符的最佳实践基础上，棉花糖变化，清晰。

太高兴了发展！愿你的应用程序让用户体验更好，愿你的评论反映。:)