371–380 of 793 posts
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It's not Linux phones that we need. We already have alternatives, like graphene and other AOSP forks. We need corporations and governments to stop locking down and gatekeeping vital software to closed ecosystems. A Linux phone doesn't help me when my government's 2FA system (BankID) only runs on Android and IOS phones and can only be acquired with an app store account.
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I think the most fun part with Google is that if some wayward algorithm decides it doesn’t like you, along with nuking your app and developer account it will probably nuke your 20 year old gmail, your kids Google Drive accounts, your wife’s YouTube premium, the Adsense account of some company you worked for in 2008, and disable your Nest cameras. And you’ll never reach a human to sort it out.
I think the most fun part with Google is that if some wayward algorithm decides it doesn’t like you, along with nuking your app and developer account it will probably nuke your 20 year old gmail, your kids Google Drive accounts, your wife’s YouTube premium, the Adsense account of some company you worked for in 2008, and disable your Nest cameras. And you’ll never reach a human to sort it out.
I had to submit my ID, my phone number, email.
Then to verify I had to give my address. They rejected my ID twice, so I had to submit driving licence.
I am several weeks in, and could not even produce a single app.
Their algorithm already rejected me, for no obvious reason.
While I sympathize with the general negative outrage towards this change, I truly believe that people here fail to empathize with the mainstream users of Android phones. I personally have seen every single older relative and non-tech friend, end up installing bloateare, spyware, and malware inadvertently - because they have no idea how anything in the tech domain works. And given the widespread popularity of Android…
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And all are useless because you can't use your mandatory bank or gov id app.
Not useless. It is like the missing printer driver for Linux Desktop. It makes the experience ugly, but this is not the fault of the Linux OSes. Also the bank should not require apps (instead they can offer hardware key support or desktop apps) and in fact some - at least in Germany - offer a different authentication possibility. Also the app for the German ID is published on fdroid and does not rely on Google servic…
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But I can't use my Norwegian BankID unless I have an apple store or play store account. This is required for every aspect of society. Heathcare, banking, taxes, driving, using my debit card online. They removed SMS 2FA options recently, the only non-tech monopoly method is a 2fa codebrick that's getting harder and harder to acquire (there are new ridiculous facial ID and passport scanning requirements, run by a priva…
We need all countries and the EU govs to mandate companies to provide the same vital access via a Web page that works on the 4 major browsers (not an issue anymore) as via the app. All my banks have it; I need an otp device but thats fine; it works well. I wish EU would mandate that plus an EU made hardware device on which all seeds can be stored and otps generated. That can be the size of an USB stick you can put on…
There is a huge push towards cashless payments that has the same effect, especially as people increasingly use mobile payments.
Android developer verification program, together with recent reCAPTCHA push [1], and Manifest v2 force depreciation on chrome [2], make one thing crystal clear. When companies like GOOGLE talks about things in the name of "your security", it's a sign that they want you to sacrifice your own things, e.g., privacy, freedom, etc., for their own security. And if you trust them and show your consent by doing nothing, you…
Google has been attempting to license the right to write. There are a lot of poor people, mostly brown people, who do not have the ability to get one of these licenses. Some of them are feeding themselves with their ability to write, and Google is literally stealing that food from their mouths.
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> And you’ll never reach a human to sort it out. Unless you blog about it angrily enough that you somehow make it to the HN front page and some insider sees it and solves the problem for you. Getting my own domain and setting up email on it is one of the best things I've ever done.
About to go down that route as well, just need to find a email provider with ideally servers in the EU
I think the most fun part with Google is that if some wayward algorithm decides it doesn’t like you, along with nuking your app and developer account it will probably nuke your 20 year old gmail, your kids Google Drive accounts, your wife’s YouTube premium, the Adsense account of some company you worked for in 2008, and disable your Nest cameras. And you’ll never reach a human to sort it out.
To avoid this, I tried to close my Google Play Developer account. A decade ago I published a free app on it, which was online for half a year. It was to no avail. They will not close the account. I received only automated responses about bringing my old app into compliance with current policy, to then transfer it to another developer account. Only then would Google graciously allow me to close my Developer account. M…
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What happens if you "accidentally" become persona non grata with both Google and Apple? If you want to participate in the society, you will forever have to resort to shady tactics. Shady can be defined something as arbitrary as using GrapheneOS. A temporary workaround like using alternatives like GrapheneOS for those affected will only delay the inevitable but it doesn't stop it at all.
If you've accidentally become a persona non grata, then obviously because you've not exercised sufficient self-censorship. This is real already. Recently saw a petition for EU to rein in big tech (there are several initiatives advocating this). Had this nagging voice at the back of my head ... what if signing that gets your Google Account terminated. I'll leave it open to you whether I signed it. For developers relyi…
If you are wrongly charged a significant amount by either Google or Apple and their service is of no help, what would you do?
Most people would weigh the options, then just eat the cost than anger them with a chargeback and lose their email/phone access. That's self-censorship financially too.
What if Google reinstates their old G+ and YouTube real name policy for its accounts. We would protest but give them the proof grudgingly and it can position itself as one of the core part of online ID verification push currently going on.