Mountain View, California - Starting 2024, Google will be forcing all apps in its store to include a feature that many users have been asking for: a clear account delete option.

You install an app, the app forces you to create an account, then it collects lots of information about you. You then decide you no longer want the app. How do you get the company to delete all the data it collected about you?

Until now, this has been notoriously difficult in some Android apps, with many providers hiding their "delete account" option in the depths of a website and sometimes not making it clear what personal data would be permanently deleted.

Users of Android smartphones are now to be given more control over their data associated with apps, and from 2024 onwards Google policy will force all apps to offer an option to delete an account inside the app or on a website.

In an April update on Play Store policy, Google says the additional option of deleting an account through a website is just as important, as it means that users who want to have their accounts or data deleted do not have to reinstall the respective app again to do so.

Google's new Play Store policy states that when an account is deleted, all associated data must also be removed.

However, app developers can also offer users who do not want to completely remove their account a choice of different data categories, such as activity history, pictures or videos, for deletion.

If developers want or need to retain certain data, for example to prevent fraud or to comply with legal requirements, they are reportedly obliged to clearly disclose this.