Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) & You

Glass Frog

I found this post by a user from another forum and thought it could be useful for people here.

If you want to see how your apps have been affected by changes to the "similar apps" section follow the steps below.

"To the ones among you that are still not convinced that there is something wrong with the "Similar Apps" sections, do the following:
1. Go to the Play Store on PC or MAC;
2. Go to your game's page or to another game's page that you think is similar to yours;
3. Click on the "Similar" section (located in the right side of the screen on PC or MAC browsers);
4. When on the "Similar" page, copy the webpage link;
5. Go on the Google page and paste the link in the search box;
6. One of the results will be that exact page, but don't click on it, instead click on the small green triangle at the end of the link and choose "Cached";
7. This will open the cached version of that "Similar" page, and show it to you as it was a few weeks ago;
8. Compare that version of the page with the one from today;
9. Save that page for future reference;
10. Repeat the same action for other games that you think are similar to yours if you still need convincing."

DigiChain

Back to GDPR related stuff:

@adent42 @ForumNinja Are Chartboost Ads working as they should now? I've just run a number of test builds for android (using the current build and the RC) and I can't get any Chartboost interstitial ads to show. The privateDataConsentForAds attribute is set to 1. Admob banners within the same app are showing as expected.

UPDATE:
Sorry, my bad - test ads are showing now. I'm not sure why I was seeing nothing earlier, but Gamesalad would seem to be functioning as it should. Thanks.

indra.aziz

Hey @adent42, the RC build button is still visible in the android build page. So do we still need to use it for android for now for ads and non-ads? Sorry maybe I missed something

adent42

@indra.aziz the RC button is for the partial wake lock issue. The "normal" build already solves the GDPR issue.

gizzi93

@adent42 Is iOS publishing working now? I got this rejected for this on June 23rd -

We discovered one or more bugs in your app when reviewed on iPad running iOS 11.4 on Wi-Fi connected to an IPv6 network.

Specifically, activity indicator indefinitely spins and we were unable to continue the game.

adent42

@gizzi93 that sounds like something game specific. Could you PM me the publishing link?

Triangularity Games

@gizzi93 I think I have the same problem. A few of my games broke with the new update, and the only thing they have in common is "activity indicator indefinately spins" but only 1 of my 3 broken games is unplayable (i.e., "unable to continue the game"), the other two I think are just missing sound assets. These were also Android builds btw. Not publishing to apple until I know they are fixed.

adent42

@Triangularity Games Yah the android issue is different I think, but i haven't tracked it down yet. It's an annoying one where things work fine in debugging, but not in the production build, so there's still some digging.

freneticz

Can i use 1.25.80 to sign with on a Android game with ads working & GDPR ok, i also have 1.25.92 installed but for Android there is something wrong with zipalign when try signing

adent42

Yah, 1.95.92 is pretty much only updated for iOS with Ads.

freneticz

@adent42 said:
Yah, 1.95.92 is pretty much only updated for iOS with Ads.

Thanks

unbeatenpixel

@adent42 said:
All, RC for iOS be broke because of how I built it. I'll try to get something out by tomorrow (working on some other stuff today).

After 5 days... Any update?

Triangularity Games

I just tried the RC build, and it didn't seem to fix the "infinite loading wheel"/"missing sounds assets" problem. I don't think that's what it was supposed to fix, but I have been waiting several weeks to update my games to make them GDPR compliant because some are still broken.

bob loblaw

thanks for this info, but after finally getting around to publishing my first app, i noticed that the ads weren't working, and after some dicking around the last few days, i found this discussion.

like the info last year about gs not working when updating our mac os to high sierra, i would have thought this would be one of those things that should have been communicated directly to pro subscribers, especially given the legal implications around it.

i have changed from chartboost to admob which will go live on the next update of my game.

ps. taco bob (first 20 levels) is available for free on apple.

natclarke

I have a series of children's apps. What is the benefit of privateDataConsentForAds compared to ADmob in which I don't need to put in the code.

If I place this code in and they say no what can you do? ........not continue unless they purchase it to unlock the games?

Not sure how to set it up so they can at least see what the game has to offer

Any Advice would be appreciated

Nat

hybrid

Hi, privateDataConsentForAds is for chartboost and for admob too, since gdpr in the european union is needed to get concent from the player to show ads.

in the game if the attribute privateDataConsentForAds is set to 0 it will show no targered ads on admob and right know it will show no ads on chartboost.

for what i read and many people are saying you cannot deny access if the player say no ( but im no sure, since i see big games only giving you the accept option, or otherwise dont play)

so i think with the new sdk of admob and chartboost you need to have an attribute named privateDataConsentForAds in the game, either set as 0 for not targered ads or 1 for targered ads

natclarke

So you still need to put in the code (privateDataConsentForAds) for Non Targeted Ads in Admob so they show up?

nir3112

I get this error on android:

unexpected error: attempt to invoke virtual method 'java.lang.string java.lang.Throwable.getmessage()' on a null object reference

Its because I didn't set up the attribute privateDataConsentForAds?

Thanks.

adent42

@nir3112 Possible. Try generating a new app. The current build should fix the issue.

bob loblaw

@natclarke said:
So you still need to put in the code (privateDataConsentForAds) for Non Targeted Ads in Admob so they show up?

i think that’s a yes (not code, just a global attribute set to 0), in case you hadn’t sorted it by now. just saw this and noticed no reply in nearly two months.

natclarke

Decided to remove all ads. Do not sorted as getting error with latest build. from google and amazon.

CasualEvolution

If there are no ads in the game, then the variable privateDataConsentForAds must be deleted or it will cause the app to close on Android and Amazon

freneticz

@natclarke said:
Decided to remove all ads. Do not sorted as getting error with latest build. from google and amazon.

Did you try make a integer privateDataConsentForAds and have it on 0

natclarke

No I haven’t.

If I want ads I was thinking of creating a button to see an ad and receive coins.

Would I put the attribute there and change it it to 1 so the add is approved?

Cheers
Nat

MelodyCats

@CasualEvolution said:
If there are no ads in the game, then the variable privateDataConsentForAds must be deleted or it will cause the app to close on Android and Amazon

How do you delete that? none of my apps contain any ads

freneticz

If you not have created it you dont have it

MelodyCats

@freneticz said:
If you not have created it you dont have it

ah ok - thanks

alpharittoalpharitto

@ForumNinja said:
The day of reckoning is upon us! Here's an update on the current status of everything in regards to GDPR:

Privacy Policy Update

We’ve updated our Privacy Policy. It now provides more info about what data we collect from you, how it's collected, what we use it for, and what rights you have over your personal information. If you have any questions or requests in regards to your data, please direct them to privacy@gamesalad.com

GDPR in Regards to your Published Apps

GDPR effects everyone who has apps or games published to any of the app stores for a couple reasons:

1. Our engine has tracking in it, which means that all of your currently published apps on the store are not currently GDPR compliant.
2. Ad providers have their own tracking that they perform in order to serve targeted ads to your players, so you will need to account for that in your games.

To address this we're in the process of removing the tracking from our engine (the engine for iOS apps is already updated without tracking, so simply republish your apps to the stores and you should be all set for iOS, unless you serve ads).


Republish your iOS apps to the store and, if you serve ads, read the information below first.


Our engine is still being updated for Android (and the API level is being updated to 26 as well), so stay tuned on when to republish Android apps.

If you use advertisements in your games

If you don't use advertisements you can ignore this part.

If you do serve ads in your games, you'll need to create a new game attribute called 'privateDataConsentForAds', and set it to '-1'.

You will need to inform your players that the game/app they're about to use serves targeted ads, and prompt them to give their consent before playing. If they consent to being shown targeted ads, set privateDataConsentForAds to '1' and all the ads should work normally.

If they don't, set privateDataConsentForAds to '0'. This will cause no ads to display for most ad providers. The only exception is AdMob, which will show non-targeted ads.

Make sure to save and load the privateDataConsentForAds attribute so that you only need to prompt the player once! I've attached a super simple project demonstrating how you could set this up.


I hope this helps clear some things up, but feel free to drop questions below!

UPDATE - 2018-06-11

If you see mentions of an "RC" build in this thread, you can ignore those now. The RC build has been promoted to the main build and the RC button has been removed.

Is not more easy to limit this issue with ad new attribute directly from the Creator like "Player1 Keymap" or "purchase Table" i mean You can create a new attribute in the creator not a single scene to add to all my games with ADV..

warnior

iOS seemed more-or-less fine (I occasionally saw a crash, but couldn't reliably reproduce https://apkminors.com/how-to-make-a-gacha-mod/, so I just let it go and you have that build in your hands now), but it's possible there too.