The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection informs: Apps – practical application programs on smartphones and tablets – have become an integral part of our everyday lives. Consumers appreciate the variety of convenient software that offers a lot of information, communication and services with just a few clicks.
A group of app experts has developed a best practice catalog for consumer-friendly apps.
There are countless apps for almost every information, communication and consumer need, most of which are sold through the stores of major operating system providers. The "appification" is progressing - a wealth of new offers like this - sometimes free, sometimes for a fee - are added every day. Installed quickly, tried out straight away and deleted immediately if desired, apps seem to represent a supposedly risk-free offer. But apps also enable completely digital monitoring of everyday life. And upon closer inspection, many deficiencies emerge: unnecessary tapping of data, inadequate data protection, unclear and incomprehensible information, lack of transparency of functions and terms of use, cost traps due to in-app sales, inadequate support in the event of problems or missing updates are just a few typical consumer problems in apps. Studies by Stiftung Warentest found critical data sending behavior in almost half of the apps tested.
Best-practice catalog for consumer-friendly apps
A group of app experts has developed a best practice catalog for consumer-friendly apps. This catalog lists measures and criteria for data protection, consumer protection and child protection that apps should adhere to from a consumer perspective. The expert group consists of various stakeholders from the app sector and came together at the invitation of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection. Members of the stakeholder group include app store providers, app developers from various areas, well-known app testers as well as consumer, data and youth protectors.
The best practice catalog now presented offers everyone involved reliable guidance and is intended to influence the market in the interests of consumers. The idea of competition should also be promoted through best practice and provide an impetus for voluntary commitments from associations and companies.
“Consumers often don’t know what happens to their data in an app, who makes money from it and what the product conditions are.
That's why we need more transparency and consumer sovereignty in apps. Apps must become safer and fairer. It is a great success that important players from the app sector were brought together at the table and agreed on the best practice catalog. I hope that all participants in our app stakeholder process, but also other companies and actors, will follow this guidance. It offers providers and consumers alike reliable indicators of best practices in apps.” Consumer State Secretary Gerd Billen
Various tests have shown that apps are not always consumer-friendly. There are often deficits, especially in the areas of data protection and youth protection, but also in the transparency of functions, security, support and costs. Many apps still have a lot of room for improvement in terms of user-friendliness, especially when it comes to “smart” information and intelligent control options.
Measures to make apps more consumer-friendly
The expert group has decided on various recommendations and specifications to make apps more consumer-friendly. This includes, for example, brief information in the app store on the most important consumer and data protection issues, such as costs, advertising and support. This should best be done on one page – a “one-pager”. Other recommendations include providing free trials or security updates for a reasonable period of time. Children and young people should, if possible, be offered apps as a paid full version - and therefore without advertising. App store operators are called upon to take the guidance into account in their developer guidelines.
The group of experts' common goal is now to gain further multipliers and to ensure the broadest possible use in practice. The experts want to meet again in six months to discuss practical experiences and statements with the aim of updating the guidance. The Self-Regulation Information Industry Association (SRIW) has taken on the role of a feedback point.
via BMJV
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )