Android Health App Information Requirement

Several apps integrated with the Zendrive SDK are receiving warnings from the Android Play Store regarding Health App Requirements. This warning pertains to apps utilizing Location and/or Activity permissions. The warning that shows up:

"Your app uses the android.permission.ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION permission and must meet Health apps policy requirements. If you don't have any health features in your app, remove this permission from your app's manifest."

Below is the screenshot of the declaration that the developers must file:

This is a policy requirement mandated by Google to all the applications (even if they are not a health app or use any of the above permissions, they need to declare the same). Even apps not primarily focused on health may need to comply due to their use of location or activity permissions. According to the policy, apps that aren't primarily health-focused but include health-related features must adhere to the Health App policy. The Health App Policy requirement specifically points the following: "If your app is not primarily a health app, but has health-related features and accesses health data, it is still in scope of the Health App policy. It should be clear to the user the connection between the app's core functionality and the collection of health related data (for example, insurance providers, games apps that collect a user's activity data as a way to advance game play etc.). The app's privacy policy must reflect this limited use."

Zendrive Recommended Solution:

There are four options on the declaration page:

• Health and fitness

• Medical

• Human Subjects Research

• Other

For Zendrive customers who have non-health-related apps, it is recommended that you check the Other option and need to put a 250-character description of the use case they are serving using the particular permission.

Sample description that was approved for our internal app:

"Our app embeds an SDK that uses `android.permission.ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION` to monitor driving habits, enhance safety, and offer substantial insurance savings. Our app improves driving safety and rewards responsible drivers with insurance savings."