Google Play will now verify VPNs that prioritize privacy and safety

Google Play will now show verification badges connected approved VPNs arsenic a measurement to “highlight apps that prioritize personification privateness and safety,” the institution announced connected Tuesday. The caller badge will look connected a VPN app’s specifications page and wrong hunt results, proving that it meets circumstantial standards outlined by Google.

To suffice for the caller verification badge, VPN apps must complete a Mobile Application Security Assessment (MASA) Level 2 validation, which evaluates an app’s security. VPNs must besides person astatine slightest 10,000 installs and 250 reviews, beryllium published connected Google Play for astatine slightest 90 days, taxable accusation connected really they cod personification data, and opt successful to independent information reviews. Google notes that while “other factors lend to the evaluation,” completing these requirements “significantly increase[s]” a VPN app’s chance of getting a verified badge.

This builds connected Google’s efforts to supply much transparency and information successful the Play Store. The institution rolled retired privateness labels successful 2022 and later introduced a badge showing whether an app received an independent information review.