People may die because Google’s bots removed the AdventureSafely app
This is an open letter from AdventureSafely, Inc. to the Android Community, and particularly to Purnima Kochikar — Director of Google Play Apps & Games at Google
A call to action for Google:
Instead of removing an app (or taking other punitive action, such as terminating accounts) without warning, run the robot that detects alleged violations without removing the app. Then, provide a reasonable time period to correct the issue, along with enough quality human attention to determine the best solution — either fix the app, fix the robot, or both.
Executive Summary
The AdventureSafely app was removed (by mistake, I believe) on May 21st for an alleged violation of the new policy restricting apps’ ability to access the user’s location in the background. I have been struggling since then, to get even 5 minutes of quality human attention from the Google Play Store, so I can get this situation resolved. Instead, I have been wasting my time communicating with (what I believe is) an AI robot that responds by sending canned emails. A cruel irony is that during this time, my father passed. So I am forced to try and muster enough energy to fight them while grieving the loss of my father.
After going back and fourth with them for the past month and a half, I am unable to get an answer to this question: “What is the process for determining whether an app is compliant under the following portion of the new Background Location policy?”
I have studied this policy carefully to ensure that the AdventureSafely app is in compliance.
It seems dishonest and unfair to have a policy without a process for determining compliance, especially if enforcement looks like removing an app and putting a business at risk. TO ALL DEVELOPERS: BEWARE — IT APPEARS THAT SOME PORTIONS OF THEIR POLICIES ARE LEGIT, AND SOME ARE TOTALLY FALSEHOODS, and that your APP CAN BE REMOVED (or worse) EVEN IF YOU ARE IN COMPLIANCE with their policies as stated.
To be fair, they DID provide a canned email with instructions for obtaining compliance another way. But the controls I need to implement these instructions (fill out a form, submit a “compliant” version) have been removed from my Play Store account, so I am dead in the water. The bot (or representative?) that has been communicating with me about the appeal indicated that this was a problem with my Google Play Console, and recommended that I file a trouble ticket with the people who support that. I did, but they (their bots?)are indicating that I need to resolve the issue through the appeal channel. So I am unable to take the steps recommended in the form letter associated with my appeal because the two relevant entities within the Google Play Store are each saying to take the matter up with the other.
About the app
The AdventureSafely app has 3 patents issued on the algorithms it uses to take advantage of even the worst cell coverage to periodically transmit your location to a loved one back home. This location information can be of great assistance in speeding a person’s rescue in the event of an emergency.
AdventureSafely also implements several strategies for helping a person FIND cell coverage. We used one of these one afternoon to find cell coverage so we could call 911 to get a fire we found in the forest put out. AdventureSafely truly is a life-saving mobile app!
Under construction is a feature that will allow AdventureSafely to use crowdsourcing to generate highly accurate cell coverage maps of remote areas. These are useful, for example, to help a person find a campsite with cell coverage or, for example, to help a person determine how far they will have to drag themselves with that broken leg to get to cell coverage and get rescued. The cell coverage data that AdventureSafely anonymously gathers will also likely have commercial value for other reasons. It is not hard to envision a cell coverage layer in Google Maps, for example.
I, and the AdventureSafely app are graduates of the Founder Institute, which is the world’s largest pre-seed accelerator. I have an advisory board that includes two CEOs, one of whom is and author and a world class expert in the field of Search and Rescue. If my app had not been removed, I would be completing a UX redesign of the app now, providing a much needed update to the website, and marketing heavily in popular areas, such as the National Parks. Instead of this, I am battling with the Play Store to get the app reinstated. I am watching helplessly as the summer recreation season is passing me by, meaning that I will likely lose a year of progress over this. I am also watching helplessly as deadlines for applying for grant funding come and go. So I am taking a direct hit in the pocketbook over this, but more importantly, PEOPLE ARE NOT GETTING THE EMERGENCY HELP THEY WOULD GET if the AdventureSafely app was available to them.
Google’s reckless punitive actions cause businesses to fail
I have read numerous accounts on social media of companies totally going out of business over similar situations. Starting and running a successful business takes substantial financial resources, and an extraordinary commitment of time and effort on the part of the founders. Google does not appear to realize or respect the level of trauma that is inflicted on a business owner, not to mention in their employees, when a business fails. It is the kind of thing that people have to do therapy about. It is tragic when a business fails. It is even more tragic if a business fails for a stupid reason, such as because one of Google’s robots made a mistake, and no usable support was provided. More tragic yet is that in the case of AdventureSafely, PEOPLE MAY ACTUALLY LOSE THEIR LIVES due to Google’s (apparent) mistake and subsequent lack of developer support!
The process is arbitrary
It is worth taking a moment to talk about what happened the first time the app was removed, in 2018. After battling for 6 months, they finally approved the pro version of the app while denying the free version, even though they both need SEND_SMS permission for the same reason. This should make it really clear just how arbitrary this process is. I decided not to make a fuss about it because I had a way forward with the business.
Engineered to build false hopes and waste time
One of the more difficult aspects of this process is that it seems engineered to maximize the amount of trauma inflicted by the system on the business owners. It is reminiscent of childhood memories where a bully would take away a shiny, new toy and tease me with it — repeatedly look like they were going to give it back to me, only to snatch it away. Then, when they got bored with this, throw it on the ground and smash it.
My experience dealing with the Google Play Store over the removal of the AdventureSafely app has been similar. The process starts out with great optimism. All signs indicate that it will be a simple matter to explain the situation and get the issue resolved. But after a few iterations with the “representative,” I ran into a dead end:
This sounds like the kind of thing a personable representative would send, and that is what I thought was the case until I saw that same phrase quoted in numerous other posts on social media. So it seems clear that while this sounds good, there is not anyone behind this that actually cares.
For brevity, I am leaving out several other similar exchanges/responses that I received, as I attempted to have an intelligent discussion about the portion of the policy I quoted above. So I decided to use the less-desirable solution presented in one of the form letters:
I was shocked to see that the controls I need to follow these instructions had been removed from the Play Store and replaced by this:
When I had a discussion about this with one of my advisors, he indicated that it looked like they had taken a more escalated action against me than simply removing my app. If this is true, then why didn’t they tell me this upfront? What good can it possibly serve to keep providing me with the illusion that I can simply go through the normal channels and get a reasonable result?
What they have been doing is to create the illusion that I will get some sort of reasonable support, while providing an endless string of next steps, none of which lead me to a person (or even a bot!) who can have an intelligent discussion with me that provides a path toward restoring the app to the Play Store so that my business can resume. This feels just like the bullying scenario from my childhood I described earlier. What a thing to do to a person who is grieving the loss of their father. (Should I now be grieving the loss of my business, as well?) In summary:
Google may have the dubious honor of being the first to determine how to use AI to bully people.
Compromising access to capital
Another thing they might not be considering is the chilling effect their policies on mobile app companies like mine being able to raise investment capital, as they continue to develop a reputation for creating this type of problem. How can I look an investor in the eye and ask them to write a check when there is a significant risk of this sort of thing? This is the second time I have had the app removed when it was clear that a mistake was made by Google. Does that mean that if it happens again, they will terminate my account?
And what are the long-term effects on their ecosystem as the reputation they are getting for their (not just bad, but abusive) support continues to grow? Why would ANY investor want to write a check for a mobile app business, knowing that, at any moment, Google’s bots might make a mistake and take the entire business down?
Call to action for Google:
The solution to this SERIOUS problem is simple. If they just made the above-stated adjustment to their process, then they could enforce a new policy with high quality, without a UX that traumatizes people. As I stated previously:
Instead of removing an app (or taking other punitive action, such as terminating accounts) without warning, run the robot that detects alleged violations without removing the app. Then, provide a reasonable time period to correct the issue, along with enough quality human attention to determine the best solution — either fix the app, fix the robot, or both.
If Google were to make this simple change to their processes, then businesses could operate in an uninterrupted manner while their situation was corrected. Nobody would lose their jobs. Nobody would have to go to therapy.
Google, please consider this request, not just for the benefit of the AdventureSafely app and all the people whose lives it will save, but also for the larger Android development community as a whole, and for the long-term health of your own ecosystem.
THANK YOU!
