Do you need a data deletion URL if your app has no accounts?

Usually not. Google Play's account deletion requirement, which is where the deletion URL comes from, applies to apps that let users create an account. If your app has no accounts, there's no account to delete and no deletion web link to submit. You still have to answer the Data deletion questions in the Data safety form, though, and some app designs count as having accounts even when developers don't think of them that way. This guide follows up our Google Play Data Deletion URL guide with the no-accounts case.

Where the deletion URL requirement comes from

Google's User Data policy says that if your app allows users to create an account from within the app, it must also let users request that the account be deleted. Users need a readily discoverable way to start deletion both inside the app and outside it, for example on your website, and you enter a link to that web resource in Play Console. When you delete an account, you also have to delete the user data associated with it. The trigger is account creation, not data collection in general.

What counts as an account

Google defines an app account as a unique user identity you provide as a user-facing feature to serve the user across apps or devices, often with a username, email address, and password. Its examples of how accounts authenticate include passwords, phone-number one-time passwords, two-factor authentication, biometrics, and single sign-on. So a 'Sign in with Google' button that creates a user profile on your backend is an account, even though the user never picks a password.

Account creation also counts if your app sends users to an account creation flow outside the app. If any part of the app offers accounts, the requirement applies even when most features work without one. Accounts that are created and operated offline are not app accounts under Google's policy, and permanently private apps and enterprise device management apps are exempt.

What no-account apps still do in Play Console

Google says all developers must complete the Data deletion questions in the Data safety form, which sits under Policy and programs → App content. That includes apps without account creation. You won't have an account deletion URL to enter, so answer the account questions to reflect that your app doesn't let users create accounts.

If your app collects or shares user data, the form also asks whether you provide a way for users to request that their data be deleted. Google's Data safety FAQ frames this as something you indicate rather than something every app must offer, and gives in-app features, contact forms, and a dedicated email alias as examples. Only answer yes if the mechanism exists. Google also notes that laws in some countries impose their own deletion requirements. If your app collects no user data at all, you declare that and this question doesn't come up.

Your privacy policy still needs a deletion statement

Even without accounts, Google's User Data policy requires your privacy policy to include your data retention and deletion policy. For a no-data app that can be a short statement that nothing is collected or stored. If your app sends analytics or crash data off the device, say how long it's kept and how users can ask for it to be deleted.

Apple's rule follows the same logic. Guideline 5.1.1(v) requires account deletion within the app only if your app supports account creation.

When you'll need the deletion URL

Plan for it the day you add sign-in. Once your app lets users create an account, you'll need an in-app path to delete it (or an in-app link to your web deletion page), a web page where users can request deletion without reinstalling the app, and that page's URL in the Data safety form. Google requires the page to load without errors, feature the deletion steps prominently, and reference your app or developer name as it appears on your store listing. If you keep some data after deletion for security, fraud prevention, or legal reasons, you have to tell users, for example in your privacy policy.

How BaseTerms handles the deletion page

BaseTerms ties the Data Deletion page to the accounts toggle. Leave 'Users can create accounts' unchecked and you get Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and Support pages with no deletion page. Check it and BaseTerms adds a Data Deletion page at yourapp.baseterms.com/deletion that names your app, explains how to request deletion through your Support page, lists what gets deleted, and states a processing time. It also adds account sections to your privacy policy, terms, and support page. Copy the raw Markdown free, or host everything on the subdomain for $9 one-time.

Common questions