The Data safety section in Play Console is a declaration of what your app and every SDK inside it collect, share and transmit, and in 2026 it is the single most common source of rejection. Google now compares the declaration against observed behaviour - automated scanning plus static analysis of the submitted artifact - so a form that was accurate when it was filled in can become a misrepresentation after one SDK upgrade.
Start from the artifact, not the form. List every third-party SDK in the build (advertising, analytics, crash reporting, attribution, payments, customer support, A/B testing), then read each provider's current data-collection disclosure - SDK vendors publish exactly what they collect and whether they share it. Anything a vendor declares must appear in your Data safety answers, because the SDK's behaviour is your app's behaviour.
The mismatches that trigger enforcement are predictable: declaring that no data is collected while an analytics or ads SDK reads the Advertising ID or device identifiers; declaring no data sharing while a crash SDK transmits device data to a third party; forgetting "Data is encrypted in transit" when a backend endpoint is plain HTTP; and claiming data deletion is available without shipping the deletion path.
Fixing it is a chain, not one field: update the Data safety answers, update the privacy policy so the same categories are described in prose, make sure the in-app disclosure matches, and if you offer account creation, provide the account deletion route Google requires (in-app plus a web URL) so your answers are verifiable. Re-check the form after every dependency upgrade - ideally as a release-checklist item before each production submission.
Misrepresentation in the Data safety section is treated as a policy violation rather than a listing inaccuracy, so the consequences go beyond a rejection: repeated or deliberate misdeclaration can lead to removal and account enforcement. If you discover an error after shipping, correct the form and the app together and document what changed.