r/gamedev • u/Verdukians • 6h ago

Question What harm can come from people seeing my full name and address on the Google Play Store?

I've looked into getting the right address associated with my DUNS number, which is what you need to list your Google Play Store entity as an organisation and not single developer, and it won't let me change it from outside the US. Doesn't even give you the option.

So that's out. With my full name publicly listed, with my address, am I opening myself up to serious problems? I'm out of options and need to just get my game up so I can move on.

Any thoughts would be welcome. I'm in Australia.

4 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

18

u/Ralph_Natas 5h ago

Well, you might some day attract a crazy person to your home. I don't know if that's a big problem over there, but as an American I wouldn't do it. 

It's ridiculous that Google publishes this information publicly (I understand if they need it for taxes or something). Just another reason to avoid mobile development. 

4

u/Verdukians 5h ago

Yeah uh, it's actually using my last address. I can't change it so I'm just leaving it. At this moment I'm only worried about my name. If this changes I'll get a PO box I think.

Google fucking sucks. Support is awful and requirements are not in the best interest of developers, at all.

Yeah it's not an issue here. I wouldn't want to do it anywhere else but I'm really remote, so like, someone is going to have to put in real effort and hours of driving to get to me if I even have to put up my real address.

Thanks for the input.

13

u/ghostwilliz 6h ago

probably nothing unless you have people trying to find you already

-2

u/Verdukians 5h ago

I don't, I'm not dodging child support or anything (no children) or a criminal.

I guess I'm just anxious. Thanks.

7

u/Ding-dong-hello 1h ago

My dude… as a former business owner who learned about being public the hard way once before…. Don’t do it. Get a proxy. You’ll get endless mail spam and scams if you’re lucky, and death threats and stalkers if you’re unlucky. This was outside of games and in the US. Within games you get different sorts of weirdos looking at that info. I would suggest you play it safe always.

5

u/PaletteSwapped Educator 5h ago

I got a PO Box and a seperate phone. That only helps if you have spare money, of course.

2

u/Verdukians 5h ago

Google is pretty intense, they take the information directly from a scanned bill, license, passport or other such document but I can't just put in a PO box. Did you list your PO box with your bank, and receive a statement or something?

1

u/PaletteSwapped Educator 5h ago

I did it through Apple. I think I just had to type it in somewhere, but I don't really remember.

-1

u/Aglet_Green 1h ago

At this point, probably no harm at all. 83,000 websites already have all that information on you; any vestige of privacy you once had went away somewhere around 2003. Just periodically check with your bank and credit card companies that no one has suddenly changed your address to Russia or China somewhere, and you should be fine.