Cast SDK Google Play Data Safety Section

In May 2021, Google Play announced the new Data safety section, a developer-provided disclosure of apps' user data collection, sharing, and security practices.

This page can help you complete the requirements for this data disclosure with respect to your usage of the Cast Android Sender SDK. On this page, you can find information on whether and how our SDK handles end-user data, including any applicable configurations or invocations you can control as the app developer.

We aim to be as transparent as possible in supporting you. However, as the app developer, you are solely responsible for deciding how to respond to Google Play's Data safety section form regarding your app's end-user data collection, sharing, and security practices.

How to use the information on this page

This page lists the end-user data collected by only the latest version of the SDK.

We provide information about data collected automatically versus data collected based on your usage. Automatic collection means that the SDK collects specific data without you invoking any specific method or class in your app. However, in many cases, the data collected by the SDK depends on your app's specific usage of the product, meaning your app's configuration and how you invoke the SDK.

To complete the data disclosure for your app, you can use Android's data types guide to help you determine which data type best describes the collected data. In your data disclosure, make sure to also account for how your specific app shares and uses the collected data.

cast and cast-framework

com.google.android.gms:play-services-cast
com.google.android.gms:play-services-cast-framework

SDK data collection

The Cast SDK can be used by mobile apps to discover and communicate with Cast-enabled devices, such as Chromecast. The SDK collects information about the SDK's interactions (App Activity) with Cast devices, and portions of that data are sent to a Google log collection server. Information logged includes generic discovery events, session management events, mobile device information, and client Cast app information.

The feature set metadata, SDK metadata, and client app metadata are used to monitor the adoption rate of different SDK releases by different apps, and to understand which SDK features have been integrated into different mobile apps.

The SDK also collects non-user-specific data that allows Google to improve the Casting experience for users. This data is NOT used to model a specific user's behavior. The analysis of the data results in product-wide decisions and changes to the overall system, not in changes to a specific user's experience.

The SDK collects all data anonymously. Logs do not contain any identifiers that can be traced back to a specific user. The collected data is only retained for a short period of time. Before deletion, the data is aggregated to obtain high-level product performance metrics, which are used to improve the SDK.

For each data type listed:

  • Some features are user opt-in features. Analytics data for a specific feature are only collected if the Cast supports that feature, and the user has opted in. For both opt-in and required features, the user cannot opt out of data collection.

    • The SDK transmits encrypted analytics data off the device through a Google log collection server to Google's data analytics pipeline.

    • The collected data is used in aggregate form to improve the SDK: to monitor overall SDK usage and performance, and to detect software defects in the product.

    • The SDK does NOT transfer or share data with third parties, or with other apps on the user’s device.

App-level notes

  • All data transmitted from the SDK is encrypted in transit.
  • Neither the app developer nor the users of the app utilizing this SDK can opt out of data collection or delete their data.

cast-tv

com.google.android.gms:play-services-cast-tv

SDK data collection

The SDK collects information about media playback experiences for Android TV receiver apps that integrate Cast Connect. The collected analytics are anonymized before sending to a Google log collection server. The logged information includes session events, some device information, and application playback information.

The SDK does not log any user information or content metadata (for example, title, artist, content URL). Only generic attributes of the content being played, such as content type, format, and duration, are logged. Data from these content-specific logs are only used in aggregate form.

The collected data is used to improve the Cast experience as follows:

  • To evaluate the usage of media content running on Cast devices.

  • To identify feature success, trends, and key usage in using Cast to drive product, business, and engineering decisions.

  • To tune performance and reduce latency of media startup, playback, and buffering.

For each data type listed:

  • All data collection is required.
  • The SDK transmits encrypted analytics data off the device through a Google log collection server to Google’s data analytics pipeline.
  • This data is used to help Google determine performance impacts of new platform and SDK releases.
  • The SDK does NOT transfer or share data with third parties, or with other apps on the user’s device.

App level notes

  • The logged data is encrypted in transit.
  • Neither the app developer nor the users of the app utilizing this SDK can opt out of data collection or delete their data.