Ongoing grants need periodic review

What it is

An ongoing grant does not expire by itself. Location turned on three months ago for navigation may now serve only occasional weather, and the grant is still live. Periodic review brings still-active ongoing grants back in front of the person after an interval: still needed, step down to once, or turn off. This entry is about maintaining a standing lease. It is not about one-time being better, and not about how system dots show in-use.

Why it happens

Consent has a half-life: when the situation changes, the original reason no longer covers the current data flow. Ongoing grants hide that half-life, and the app has little incentive to remind—a reminder might cause a shutoff. Memory follows recent use; people rarely audit the permission list. Review turns "not used again" or "enough time has passed" into a low-pressure decision window, so ongoing is a choice again rather than sediment. Without review, revocability lives only deep in Settings, which is default-permanent.

Where it stops holding

A capability used every day (the IME microphone, daily commute navigation) becomes harassment if reviewed often; stretch the interval or fire only on long unused. When the OS already auto-resets unused permissions, the app should not stack another dialog with the same content; surface the system state in Settings instead. Enterprise permissions that policy forbids turning off are not a consumer review.

Applying it

• For each ongoing grant, record last genuine read time. After the product's interval (for example thirty days without a read), show a dismissible review on next open—not a system permission dialog.
• The review offers three exits: keep, next time only, turn off. Turn off jumps to the system toggle.
• Do not make the review a full-screen that must be cleared before Home.
• Verify by backdating "last read" past the interval in a test build: one review should appear after cold start, and none again inside the same interval. Choosing turn off must reach the system switch. Track keep versus turn-off rates after review; if almost no one ever sees a review, the entry failed.

Related

• Within the group: H4.07.1 A one-time grant lowers the person's risk · H4.07.3 Grant duration needs a visible indicator
• Adjacent: H4.10 Visibility of Permission State · H4.04 Revocable Permissions · O1.10 Consent Granularity and Withdrawal
• Search terms: permission review · unused permission · ongoing authorization