Privacy-Period-Tracker/docs/security/SECURITY_CHECKLIST.md

Security checklist — Period

Status: Current
Owner: _null
Last reviewed: 2026-08-18
Governs: the checks run before a Play release, and what each one proves
Review trigger: A new SDK; a new class of input; a change to what is logged,
                exported or backed up; any finding that got past this list

Why this is separate from SECURITY.md

SECURITY.md is the threat model: what is protected and from whom. It is read carefully once and revisited rarely.

This is the list somebody actually works through before pressing publish. Keeping them apart means the model can stay stable while the checks change, and it means the release list stays short enough to finish rather than skim.

Before a release

• bash scripts/secrets.sh --tracked is clean — proves no credential shape is in the tracked tree
• git log -p searched for keystore, .jks, service-account JSON and local.properties — proves nothing secret is in the history, which a directory listing cannot tell you
• The release APK/AAB is signed by the upload key from outside the repository — proves signing config never needed a tracked secret
• ./gradlew test passes with the prediction acceptance tests included — proves the forecast still behaves at the boundaries §51 names
• Play Data Safety declaration re-read against what the app actually sends — proves the declaration is a description rather than an aspiration
• Play Health apps declaration completed as applicable — proves the category rules were checked, not assumed
• Store listing carries no medical or contraceptive claim — proves the copy did not drift past what the app can support
• Current Play target-API requirement confirmed at submission time, not from this document — proves the deadline was checked rather than remembered

Standing checks

• No secret in the repository, in a log line, or in an error message
• Every input that reaches a query or a filesystem path is validated at the boundary
• Dependencies reviewed, and any accepted advisory recorded with a reason
• Every third-party SDK in the build is in SECURITY.md's third-parties table — proves a dependency did not arrive without a decision

Health data never reaches advertising

The one group that is not generic. Every item proves part of ../planning/PRODUCT_PLAN.md §34.

• ads declares no Gradle dependency on core/database or domain/*, and the boundary guard was proved to fail this release — proves the check is evidence rather than decoration
• No health-derived value appears in an ad request extra, user property, or callback log — proves targeting cannot happen by accident
• Ad requests are non-personalized/contextual, with region-appropriate consent — proves the default is the private one
• The ads provider is not initialised for entitled (ad-free) users where practical — proves the purchase removes the SDK, not just the view
• The built AAB inspected for the ad SDK's declared collection — proves the scan reached the artifact users receive, not only the source

What the device and the lock screen expose

• Cycle history is in app-private storage only — proves nothing landed in shared or external storage
• Lock-screen text in Discreet and Maximum privacy modes contains no menstrual detail, checked on a real lock screen at every mode — proves the notification privacy feature actually works, which is the breach most likely to happen
• The health database's inclusion in platform auto-backup is a recorded decision, not a default — proves the local-first promise is not undone by the OS
• Release build has verbose logging off and no raw cycle date in any crash payload — proves §45's logging rule survived the build type
• Delete My Data removes the rows and is irreversible after confirmation — proves the promise in Settings is true
• Export produces only the user's own data, to a location they chose — proves export is not an accidental leak path

The compliance bar, which is not the launch bar

• The privacy policy is published, reachable from the app, and matches what the app does
• The privacy promise appears in onboarding, in Settings → Privacy & Security, and on the public privacy page — proves the promise is where §4 says it must be

(Not applicable here, and deleted rather than carried as permanently skipped: authorisation and IDOR checks — there are no accounts and no server; browser bundle and cookie checks — there is no browser; rate limiting and spend ceilings — there is no endpoint of ours to exhaust.)

What got past this list

Add an entry whenever a real finding was not caught here, and then add the check that would have caught it. A checklist that never grows is one nobody is honest with.

When	What was missed	The check now added
—	—	—