Just a quick notice that we've updated our Deceptor requirements to address additional areas of consumer abuse.
Here's the requirements that we've promoted to "Deceptor-level" during the month of October. If we find apps failing these (or any) Deceptor requirements, we'll call them out on our Deceptor website.
- ACR-046, because we found that apps were making it difficult for consumers to find their disclosures and install options.
- ACR-071, because we found download managers and bundlers "grouping" their offers behind a single accept button, making it impossible for consumers to select them individually.
- ACR-086, because we found apps capturing user clicks, searches, and other data from consumers when this wasn't the purpose of the app.
- ACR-116, because we found apps were making it difficult for consumers to remove the app
- ACR-103, because we found many browser extensions that offered no accessible value beyond changing search or launching existing web pages
- ACR-075, because we found download managers and bundlers making offers to consumers, yet failing when installing the carrier app
A big thank you to our security partners for helping us get these requirements right and for agreeing to enforce against violations. Together we'll make downloading apps much safer for everybody.
If you're an app vendor, we know you want to get it right. Please consider registering your app with us. If you register and commit to fixing any Deceptor violations, we'll notify you a month before we tell our security partners about your violations.
(Dennis Batchelder)
(tl;dr: we removed a big barrier to getting certified or requiring certification: the fee. read on for more...)
Buenos Dias from Madrid, Spain! David, Jaimee, and I attended the Clean Software Alliance Summit, and we spent two days hearing from software monetizers, most of the major AV vendors, Google, and Microsoft about the state of the software monetization industry.
I also gave an update on changes we're making to AppEsteem to help drive faster adoption of clean practices. I've attached the presentation so you can see them for yourselves... we're super excited about these changes, and we think it's going to give many more vendors the incentive they need to get off the sidelines and make a commitment to clean behavior.
Here's the presentation.... and just as a teaser to get you to read it, here's some of the cool barrier-busters we announced:
- Certifications are now free. If you're on a budget, or if you're happy with your compliance team, no worries: we'll evaluate your app at no cost. If it meets our requirements, we'll issue you a certification and inform the security companies that you're compliant. (wow wow wow!)
- Software vendors who commit to following our requirements can register their apps with us, and we'll provide early notification if we happen to find violations that would land the app on our Deceptor page.
- We've made it even easier to follow our application certification requirements with a new checklist page that provides prescriptive guidance and shows examples.