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The rejection notice that the developer posted said "Your app is uploading users Contact List without an adequate disclosure. For further details on the valid p

The rejection notice that the developer posted said "Your app is uploading users Contact List without an adequate disclosure. For further details on the valid prominent disclosure requirement, please review the [linked] section under the User Data Policy". The developer asserted that they were only leaking the domain names from users contacts, but that's still something that users should be aware of. Full disclosure, I work for Google so maybe I have some biases, but IMO that's a pretty clear message telling the dev why the app was rejected and how to resolve the issue.

orangecat 4y ago
"Uploading the contact list" is not a reasonable description of requesting a favicon from a contact's domain.
g_p 4y ago
The problem was that this feature existed for many years without issue. There was plenty of disclosure in the app (it was even written in bold red text, I believe). The developer was guessing as to what was going on, since the feature wasn't new, and the message doesn't appear to match the actual issue (domain names from sent/receives messages, after expressly opting into a feature with a privacy warning on it) There is an interesting question around whether a domain name really is a privacy disclosure though (and I write this as someone who wants to see more private apps) - if we force apps to disclose mundane trivia, it will distract from the meaningful disclosures. Do we expect Google to disclose in every one of their apps and services that it makes DNS queries, which may reveal information to third parties? Or do we accept that's how the internet works? In this context, it seems like FairEmail was doing the equivalent of making a DNS lookup. If the user doesn't trust their DNS, is this a developer's responsibility to address? I don't know where the line ought to lie, but I think a major reason it wasn't clear what was wrong and how to resolve it was the time between the feature being added, and the review highlighting this - slow feedback loops kill products.
- jhugo 4y ago
  Don't focus too much on the protocol that is used. Leaking the domains of every mail correspondent is a privacy issue regardless of whether it's done via a DNS lookup or otherwise.
croes 4y ago
The app didn't upload the user's contact list, only contacted the mail domain to get the favicon. And this feature was disabled by default and had a warning description if you want to turn it on. So no, Google didn't clearly said what the problem is because they didn't understand the functionality.

orangecat 4y ago

"Uploading the contact list" is not a reasonable description of requesting a favicon from a contact's domain.

g_p 4y ago

The problem was that this feature existed for many years without issue. There was plenty of disclosure in the app (it was even written in bold red text, I believe). The developer was guessing as to what was going on, since the feature wasn't new, and the message doesn't appear to match the actual issue (domain names from sent/receives messages, after expressly opting into a feature with a privacy warning on it) There is an interesting question around whether a domain name really is a privacy disclosure though (and I write this as someone who wants to see more private apps) - if we force apps to disclose mundane trivia, it will distract from the meaningful disclosures. Do we expect Google to disclose in every one of their apps and services that it makes DNS queries, which may reveal information to third parties? Or do we accept that's how the internet works? In this context, it seems like FairEmail was doing the equivalent of making a DNS lookup. If the user doesn't trust their DNS, is this a developer's responsibility to address? I don't know where the line ought to lie, but I think a major reason it wasn't clear what was wrong and how to resolve it was the time between the feature being added, and the review highlighting this - slow feedback loops kill products.

jhugo 4y ago
Don't focus too much on the protocol that is used. Leaking the domains of every mail correspondent is a privacy issue regardless of whether it's done via a DNS lookup or otherwise.

croes 4y ago

The app didn't upload the user's contact list, only contacted the mail domain to get the favicon. And this feature was disabled by default and had a warning description if you want to turn it on. So no, Google didn't clearly said what the problem is because they didn't understand the functionality.