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Comment by TazeTSchnitzel | Hacker News Reader

Google Play has also recently started requiring this, and I know someone affected by it. It is very problematic for small developers because they may have to publish their home address, which opens them up to the possibility of harassment and so on. I don't think it's a good change.

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In the US, if you run your own business your business address is public information already in most states. You can use a registered agent address in the US which can keep your personal address off the public record for your business.

Most places do not accept a PO Box which is why most use a Registered Agent service.

Do you have a citation? This is not true in my state.

I'm not citing 50 Secretary of States. Delaware has an option to be more private than other states. Though if you setup the App Store you need a DUNS number which then makes the address mostly public.

You don't need a DUNS number in the App Store. I don't have one.

You do if you register as a Business. Individuals and Government are the only non-required entities.

https://developer.apple.com/support/D-U-N-S/

I'm an individual, and individuals are the ones most affected negatively by this Digital Services Act requirement.

Similar in EU. There are all sorts registry of self-employed people. Phone, address, date of birth, in some cases even local equivalent of Social Security number are public. Some countries even publish income.

That is also a thing in Europe.

I learned this from a friend who was under witness protection, so it was a necessity for him.

I'm using it mostly to keep the usual spam away from my mailbox.

I'm assuming you have to pay for such an agent?

Google Play also requires it if you're just publishing as an individual for free. I made my account back in 2010 and the last update was in 2011, and let it get restricted earlier this year because I didn't want to publicize that information.

I don't have a lot of apps on the play, and none of them are particularly popular - but some of them were/are useful.

I'm letting my account lapse in November when this falls due for me - no way in heck I'd be putting these details out there.

No great loss for google or the world, but still smarts a bit given the hours I've put in to them over the years.

I have a coworking space i use that accepts mail. its cheapish ($200 a year) and allows me to keep my home address off of marketing materials

> they may have to publish their home address

Wouldn’t a PO Box be a better option? They run as little as $10/mo for one at the USPS.

Not allowed.

It is allowed. I did exactly that for my apps.

It depends on how you're publishing your apps. If you have a registered business which publishes the app then you can use the business address, so a PO box might be viable. You'll need to make sure your business is registered on that address in your national business registry.

Otherwise you are required to give your personal address.

See e.g. https://dev.to/svprdga/privacy-nightmare-as-google-plans-to-... but there are plenty of other sources that match my experience.

I don't have a registered business. Nonetheless, I used a P.O. Box for my EU trader address in the App Store—a P.O. Box that I opened for this specific purpose—as well as a Google Voice phone number.

These were both accepted by Apple and published in the EU.

An added expense, for an app that may not be paid.

If your app is not paid, then you're not a "trader" according to the EU.

You are according to the EU's rules of digital markets. Any app provider is.

If you don't process any personal information, don't have ads or purchases and don't have online backend services... Then you might have a chance of arguing you're not a business. But that's probably so few apps it's worth it to just require everyone to follow the same rules.

> You are according to the EU's rules of digital markets. Any app provider is.

This is simply not true. I've read the regulations, because I had to declare trader status myself.

Read the rest of the comment.

I did. You're wrong. And you don't even have to "argue". It's a self-declaration.

Nope, you can't use that as your legal registered address in EU.

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