Google releases Checks to help developers check applications for compliance, regulatory and privacy needs

Amid rapidly changing compliance and regulatory frameworks, Google has launched a new Artificial Intelligence-based compliance framework called Checks.

The new privacy platform is aimed at mobile application developers, and will be offered to IOS and Android app developers. The application being built can be screened by the platform and will help developers to identify potential compliance or privacy needs. The app will also provide a report with actionable insights to address problems that are found in the application. 

Checks as a company came to the fore through Google’s in-house incubator called Area 120. The company, founded by Nia Castelly and Fergus Hurley, was previously engaged in building tools to check vital parameters of mobile applications and to give feedback to developers.

“Checks provides increased visibility into your app’s data collection and sharing behaviours, and highlights where there may be potential compliance issues under regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA),” the Checks website stated. 

Consumers today also want to understand to what extent an app goes to collect their personal data, they demand to know how data is accessed, and stored. 

Developers can access the tool by logging into their Google account and into their Google Play app ID. When the application is being scrutinised, checks will look into the privacy policy, network traffic and information about the software development kit to access information. Google also said that checks will use natural language processing to deep scan privacy reports.   

The platform is currently priced at $249 per month, going upto $499 per month for premium users. For enterprise and premium users, they will receive additional benefits such as custom analysis, an access to a compliance review team, and testing flows.