Action requested: Declare your Ad ID permission

Ak47-forever · March 16, 2022, 7:50am

I am using Unity Ads in my apps.
Many developers got email about “Action requested” to declare Ad ID in permission:

When users choose to delete their advertising ID in order to opt out of personalization advertising, developers will receive a string of zeros instead of the identifier if they attempt to access the identifier. This behavior will extend to phones, tablets, and Android TV starting April 1, 2022.

We also announced that you need to declare an AD_ID permission when you update your app targeting API level to 31 (Android 12). Today, we are sharing that we will give developers more time to ease the transition. We will require this permission declaration when your apps are able to target Android 13 instead of starting with Android 12.

Action Items

If you use an advertising ID, you must declare the AD_ID Permission when your app targets Android 13 or above. Apps that don’t declare the permission will get a string of zeros. Note: You’ll be able to target Android 13 later this year.

If your app uses an SDK that has declared the Ad ID permission, it will acquire the permission declaration through manifest merge.

If your app’s target audience includes children, you must not transmit Android Advertising ID (AAID) from children or users of unknown age. Learn more.

Do we need to add Ad ID Permission in manifest?

unity_B35A4989161CC58A3875 · March 17, 2022, 1:14am

Hello, I have the same question… I uploaded an app to the play store a few days ago and it’s still under review… I don’t know if I should do something with this. were you able to do something Greetings

Ak47-forever · March 17, 2022, 8:48am

I am not sure for Unity Ads SDK, but Admob latest SDK have AP_ID permission in manifest. That’s why I asked here.

sfla38 · March 17, 2022, 9:58am

hi how can we add advertising id permission in manifest file? can somebody solve this issue

nikoladimev · March 17, 2022, 12:48pm

Also, what are the consequences if an app is primarily for children but the meta tag “metaData.Set(“mode”, “app”);” is not set? Any info on that end?

unity_B35A4989161CC58A3875 · March 17, 2022, 8:31pm

Greetings. I received this email, and I don’t know how to update my app, can you help me, I’m using Android Studio with Kotlin language

Hi Unity Ads Publisher,

Starting April 1, 2022, the Google Families Policy will no longer allow Device IDs to leave users’ devices from apps where one of the target audiences is children. In order to configure Unity Ads to comply with these changes, please take the following actions before April 1, 2022:

Step #1: Confirm you are sharing the correct values in the following fields:

MetaData field

Description

privacy.mode

Indicates the compliance mode for the app:

app: Indicates that the entire app is directed at children.

mixed: Indicates that the app is directed at mixed audiences, and passes user-specific flags that identify whether a user should receive personalized or contextual advertisements.

none: Indicates that the entire app is not directed at children and the Families policy does not apply.

user.nonbehavioral

A user-specific flag that indicates whether a user should receive personalized or contextual advertisements.

true: Indicates that the user may not receive personalized ads.

false: Indicates that the user may receive personalized ads.

Please note: This field is only required if privacy.mode is set to mixed. For more information, see documentation on COPPA compliance and contextual ads.

Step #2: Add the appropriate code to your project

Ads SDK Type

Code to be added

Unity (C#)

Available here.

iOS (Objective-c)

Available here.

Android (Java)

Available here.

Step #3: For Publisher using Unity Mediation - upgrade to 0.3.0 or above

Publishers who are using Unity Mediation and are operating applications targeted toward children will need to be on Mediation SDK version 0.3.0 or above before re-publishing to the Google Play Store. Please note that, at this time, Unity Mediation does not support mixed audience mode or the user-specific flags referenced above. Download the latest Unity Mediation SDK here.

Step #4: Re-publish your app to the Google Play Store

For additional details on how to update your projects, visit Unity Documentation. Please reach out to your Unity contact or unityads-support@unity3d.com with questions.

Best
The Unity Ads Team