Professional Ethics & Standards Flashcards

A developer wants to boost their app's Play Store rating quickly. Which approach violates both Google Play policy and professional ethics?

Answer: Incentivizing users with in-app currency or premium features in exchange for 5-star reviews

Google Play explicitly prohibits incentivized reviews because they manipulate the rating system and mislead prospective users.

Your Android app uses a UI pattern that tricks users into subscribing to a premium tier when they intended to cancel. This is an example of what?

Answer: A dark pattern that violates user autonomy and Google Play's Deceptive Behavior policy

Dark patterns that manipulate users into unintended actions violate both ethical design principles and Google Play's developer policies.

After an app update removes a feature, the app still requests the permission that feature required. What is the ethical action?

Answer: Remove the permission from the manifest so users are not asked to grant unnecessary access

Retaining unused permissions violates the principle of least privilege and erodes user trust without providing any benefit.

A developer discovers a bug that causes data loss for approximately 0.1% of users under a specific condition. What is the ethical response?

Answer: Prioritize the fix and ship a patch update promptly to protect all affected users

Any confirmed data loss bug, regardless of its frequency, represents a serious breach of user trust and warrants immediate remediation.

Google Play's User Data policy requires that apps with user-generated content must do which of the following?

Answer: Provide mechanisms to report and moderate content that violates content standards

Apps hosting user-generated content must include in-app reporting tools and moderation processes to address harmful content.

A developer plans to sell their app to a company that intends to repurpose collected user data in ways not covered by the original privacy policy. What is the ethical obligation before completing the sale?

Answer: Notify existing users of the ownership change and the new data usage terms, giving them a chance to delete their data

Users consented to data collection under specific terms; a material change in how their data is used requires transparent prior notification.

Which behavior is a clear violation of professional Android developer ethics and Google Play policy?

Answer: Collecting device sensor data beyond what is described in the privacy policy without user knowledge

Collecting data beyond what is disclosed in the privacy policy violates user trust, Google Play policy, and data protection laws worldwide.