Updated 7/12/2016: High submission volume has led to review latency that is longer than normal, so we've extended the grace period. The new policy will be enforced beginning September 6th, 2016. 
Today we’re updating the User Data Policy for the Chrome Web Store. Principles of transparency and choice over how users’ personal data is handled have long been key parts of Google’s philosophy. Since early on, Chrome has included privacy-protecting features to give users control over their browsing experience, including incognito mode and granular privacy preferences. Now, we’re consolidating and expanding our policies about user data to ensure our Chrome Web Store developers follow similar principles.


Chrome provides robust APIs that empower developers to create compelling extensions and apps, and users often need to provide access to their data to allow these services to run. The new User Data Policy extends existing policies to ensure transparent use of the data in a way that is consistent with the wishes and expectations of users. Some of the new requirements for developers are:


  • Be transparent about the handling of user data and disclose privacy practices
  • Post a privacy policy and use encryption, when handling personal or sensitive information, and
  • Ask users to consent to the collection of personal or sensitive data via a prominent disclosure, when the use of the data isn’t related to a prominent feature.


The policy also has other requirements, including prohibiting the collection of web browsing activity when it’s not required for an item’s main functionality. The full text of the policy is available in our Developer Program Policies and more information is available in the FAQ section.


We'll notify developers when we discover items that violate the User Data Policy, and they'll have until July 14, 2016 to make any changes needed for compliance. Starting July 15th, 2016, items that violate the policy will be removed from the Web Store and will need to become compliant to be reinstated.


Protecting our users is our key priority, and we believe this change will make sure users are better informed and allow them to choose how their user data is handled.


Posted by Teresita Perez and Athas Nikolakakos, Chrome Policy Team