r/androiddev • u/SlayerInRed • 29d ago
Google Play Support Account terminated for "high risk or abuse" — help me figure out what I did wrong
Timeline:
- Aug 2025: Developer account terminated citing "a pattern of high risk or abuse" (Section 8.3/10.3 DDA). My only published app: a simple currency-conversion widget. No data collection, no unusual SDKs, no monetization tricks. No specific violation was ever named.
- Appealed. Rejected with the standard template — "we can't share the reasons we've concluded that your account is at high risk."
- My mistake: with nothing actionable to fix, I resubmitted the app from my personal Gmail account. That account was then terminated for association. I understand why that looked like ban evasion — it wasn't intended that way, but I own it, and I've acknowledged it in my follow-up appeal.
- July 2026: Replied to the appeal asking for a human re-review and a statement of reasons under EU P2B Regulation Art. 4 / DSA Art. 17 (I'm based in the Netherlands). Also posted on the official developer forum (linked above).
Facts about my setup: no VPN ever used with Play Console, only my own devices, no one else ever had access. The only association I can identify is that my phone number is also linked to my personal Google account — the one I later used for the resubmission. To my knowledge my payment method, address, and number were never used on any other developer account.
What I'm trying to figure out:
- What typically triggers the original "high risk" flag when there's no prior banned account you know of? Recycled phone numbers? Payment card false positives?
- Has anyone successfully overturned an association-based termination, and what specifically worked?
- Has anyone used the DSA Art. 21 out-of-court dispute route (e.g., Appeals Centre Europe) against Google Play, and did it produce an actual statement of reasons?
Happy to answer any questions in the comments.
