My understanding is that this new reCAPTCHA is basically just remote attestation. Remote attestation doesn't use blind signatures (as that would be 'farmable') so tying the device to the 'attestee' is technically possible with collusion of Google servers: EK (static burned-in private key) -> AIK (ephemeral identity key in secure enclave signed by a Google server) -> attestation (signed by AIK). As you can see if the…
Google broke reCAPTCHA for de-googled Android users
341–350 of 618 posts
Re: Google broke reCAPTCHA for de-googled Android users
#342Earlier quoted context omitted.
One problem with these things is that businesses have minimal visibility on the amount of users they lose. On the opposite, if they see reports of many visitors not completing the captcha, they're likely to think "Wow so many bots!!! This defense nowadays is indispensable..!". Sometimes you need to pass a captcha even to contact them (if you want to tell them that you can't pass their captcha).
I wanted to give money to charity and they have whole form protected by recaptcha. So I would have to allow all my personal information and amount donated sent to google (and agree with google terms for data processing). I have contacted them but they did not understand why this is problem they just wanted to protect themself against bots. IMHO unless those things are not disallowed by antitrust laws we have lost.
Re: Google broke reCAPTCHA for de-googled Android users
#343Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was going to ask for more info on this collusion but you say it wasn't reported. And googling "chicxulub" just gives a volcano. Is this speculation, or has it been confirmed somewhere?
"Chicxulub impact" seems to be functioning as a bit of hyperbole to imply that this collusion was absolutely devastating, by analogy to the K-T extinction event 66 million years ago. Not that I really can tell what this was devastating to. Maybe United States v. Apple (2012), where Hachette Book Group, Inc., HarperCollins publishers, Macmillan publishers, Penguin Group, Inc., and Simon & Schuster, Inc. conspired with…
I don't think it's that, because the Wikipedia article makes it seem like it was a force for good, but at the time, it wasn't certain at all that it would be that way.[1]
Beyond that, I'm not exactly sure what might be meant.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Association
[1] https://reddit.com/r/technology/comments/xs4qw/google_facebo...
Re: Google broke reCAPTCHA for de-googled Android users
#344This is wrong. Many (most?) users of alternative Android OSes do use a variant of the Play Services (be it sandboxed Play Services like on GrapheneOS, or an open source, reverse engineered implementation like microG that phones home just the same).
Google seems to be leveraging Play Integrity here, which requires that the phone OS is signed by Google. This is clearly anticompetitive, I hope the DMA will do something about that.
Re: Google broke reCAPTCHA for de-googled Android users
#345My understanding is that this new reCAPTCHA is basically just remote attestation. Remote attestation doesn't use blind signatures (as that would be 'farmable') so tying the device to the 'attestee' is technically possible with collusion of Google servers: EK (static burned-in private key) -> AIK (ephemeral identity key in secure enclave signed by a Google server) -> attestation (signed by AIK). As you can see if the…
Age verification as a technical concept can be done in a privacy-preserving manner! Whether or not we want age verification is another debate, but let's stop making wrong technical claims about that: it doesn't help.
Re: Google broke reCAPTCHA for de-googled Android users
#346My understanding is that this new reCAPTCHA is basically just remote attestation. Remote attestation doesn't use blind signatures (as that would be 'farmable') so tying the device to the 'attestee' is technically possible with collusion of Google servers: EK (static burned-in private key) -> AIK (ephemeral identity key in secure enclave signed by a Google server) -> attestation (signed by AIK). As you can see if the…
Stop visiting sites and using services that use reCAPTCHA. Problem solved.
Not solved at all: 99.999% of users don't give a damn and use a Google-signed Android.
My opinion is that because they don't give a damn does NOT mean regulations should not protect them. What Google is doing here is anticompetitive and they should be fined (antitrust and all that).
Re: Google broke reCAPTCHA for de-googled Android users
#347My understanding is that this new reCAPTCHA is basically just remote attestation. Remote attestation doesn't use blind signatures (as that would be 'farmable') so tying the device to the 'attestee' is technically possible with collusion of Google servers: EK (static burned-in private key) -> AIK (ephemeral identity key in secure enclave signed by a Google server) -> attestation (signed by AIK). As you can see if the…
I don't see any requirement to support hardware attestation in the recaptcha documentation, the Play Services seem to be "enough". I think it's most likely to be attested by Google remotely; they might be using an app (with enormous access to the phone as the Play Services have) to be able to link a ton of data together, possibly including the local activity on the phone, officially to make better humanity assessment…
Doesn't Play Integrity use hardware attestation, but specifically checking the Google keys?
If you use the Play Services on GrapheneOS, you still don't pass Play Integrity because your system is signed by GrapheneOS and not by Google.
Re: Google broke reCAPTCHA for de-googled Android users
#348Sites that use reCAPTCHA/Turnstile/etc. have already been broken for me for years now due to neverending captcha/refresh loops. My ISP regularly changes everyone's IP, and I apparently share an ISP with people who suck, so I get flagged just trying to do all sorts of normal things. Some examples: - I've never bought anything from Etsy but I'm somehow banned from even viewing their site at all. - Discord immediately b…
Re: Google broke reCAPTCHA for de-googled Android users
#349> People running de-Googled phones chose those setups because they read the data practices, understood what Play Services phones home about, and decided they didn’t consent. This is wrong. Many (most?) users of alternative Android OSes do use a variant of the Play Services (be it sandboxed Play Services like on GrapheneOS, or an open source, reverse engineered implementation like microG that phones home just the same…
Re: Google broke reCAPTCHA for de-googled Android users
#350I've kept a spare cheap android for too long and recently went with Graphene instead. I have one Google profile and only use it for Uber, work's Google Chat and maps. One bank refused to work (even with Google services) so I moved bank. I've moved most of my mobile use to self hosted (freshrss full text, password manager, calendar, tasks) with no direct internet connection. It's a bit irritating but I'm glad I starte…
Banks are implementing terrible "security" checks. Users of alternative OSes should be a lot more vocal: change bank, but also complain a lot to the offending one, and make sure to leave them a bad review on the Play Store.
Actually people not using an alternative OS but caring about that should also leave bad reviews to those banks on the Play Store.
At the end of the day, the problem comes from humans in those banks who don't understand and don't give a shit. The only way to make them care about it is to complain enough that it becomes their problem.