Gina20h ago

🚨 Say that I were to give a talk to EU policy makers and OSS communities at a very big conference tomorrow..

and that I want to spend half of my talk on how Google is locking down #Android through:
1. Device attestation
2. Developer registration
3. Age/identity verification

What should I absolutely include? 👀

Input is welcome, sorry for the short notice. Plain language + realistic calls to action pls.

@fdroidorg @GrapheneOS @postmarketOS @Fairphone @appfair @fsfe @murena @volla @IzzyOnDroid

Show threadGina20h ago

Boosting and tagging is appreciated, DM's are welcome too.

I really want to get this right, so please only use verified information. And yes, I'll be mentioning https://keepandroidopen.org/ extensively.

(And yes I will also mention Apple and the role of the DMA, but only briefly. More info: https://mastodon.social/@kirschner/116440678455335985)

Keep Android Open

Your phone is about to stop being yours. In September 2026, Google will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with them.

Show threadGina19h ago

I'll start with the #opensource strategy and EU tech sovereignty package, and good things happening and alternatives being build etc.

Then mention how the mobile ecosystem is one of the last frontiers left critically assessed.

I'll share how Google is closing down Android (input welcome!). 

And that we need to promote, fund, regulate and perhaps even build open (EU) alternatives in the mobile ecosystem if we don't want to increasingly become captured by 2 US big tech companies.

Show threadGina19h ago

About age/identity verification through the new EU ID wallets, I'll mention something about the necessity of offering this through open apps / app stores. Google is all too eager to become a middleman for these services:

https://reclaimthenet.org/google-wants-to-be-the-id-checkpoint-for-europes-internet

Show threadGina
One of the final slides in my presentation:
3:21pmWeb
Show threadRandom Sapiens14h ago
@Gina @GrapheneOS
Show threadHugo13h ago
@random_sapiens @Gina @GrapheneOS #sailfishos by @jolla 😊
Show threadGrapheneOS12h ago
@hlrx @random_sapiens @Gina SailfishOS isn't open source, has atrocious privacy/security and was developed in close partnership with Putin's regime from 2015 through 2023. They first partnered with the Russian government AFTER they invaded Ukraine and were sanctioned. Russia are the only ones able to have a fork of SailfishOS (Aurora OS) since most of the code specific to it is closed source. It's quite silly that they market themselves based on their geographic location considering the history.
Show threadHugo11h ago
@GrapheneOS SailfishOS is gradually opening its source code, let's be patient. Regarding their ties with Russia, @jolla said he had cut his economic relationship with Russia in 2021.
Show threadGrapheneOS11h ago

@hlrx They've barely open sourced any of the code specific to SailfishOS. The parts which are open source are nearly entirely the projects they use from elsewhere.

SailfishOS didn't fully cut their ties to Russia's government until 2023. The management who made the decision to work closely with Putin's regime in the first place are still the ones in charge and now own the company.

It's marketed as open and pro-European but their actions show the opposite. It's nowhere close to as open as AOSP.

Show threadAndreas 14h ago
@Gina yes we do. One that is supported by governments so I don’t have to pick one over the other
Show threadLaura14h ago

@Gina This comes to mind, showing that this whole sovereignty thing is not hypothetical, the USA is already attacking this way. Apologies if this was covered elsewhere, I didn't read through the entire thread.

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/feb/18/international-criminal-court-icc-judges-trump-sanctions

Credit cards cancelled, Google accounts closed: ICC judges on life under Trump sanctions

Kimberly Prost and Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza vow US reprisals will not affect work of international criminal court

The Guardian
Show threadRobert Zondervan13h ago
@Gina 100% agreed, although I think there are challenges in getting an open ecosystem adopted. In regards to that a question: I seem to remember that few years ago there was a EU resolution to force Meta (and the rest) to open API's to their messaging apps so that other messaging apps could communicate with them. Have you got any idea what the status of that is?
Show threadRobert Zondervan13h ago
@Gina Because if we can use an open messaging app like Nextcloud Talk to communicate with those glued to their WhatsApp (I'm guessing there is no way that we get WA on such an ecosystem), the chances of success are way higher.
Show threadZash11h ago
@rjzondervan @Gina As I understand, this already exists but everyone who wants to use it (each and every single _instance_) must sign an agreement with Meta to get access
https://xmpp.org/announcements/open-letter-meta-dma/
Open Letter to Meta: Support True Messaging Interoperability with XMPP | XMPP - The universal messaging standard

The European Digital Markets Act (DMA) is designed to break down walled gardens and enforce messaging interoperability. As a designated gatekeeper, Meta—controlling WhatsApp and Messenger—must comply. However, its current proposal falls short, …

Show threadRobert Zondervan11h ago

@zash @Gina Ah, so, adhering to the letter of the act, but actively frustrating the idea behind the act. Where have we seen that before...

I think the trouble of communicating with people that are stuck on the 'old world' is one of the biggest issues with the adoption of a new mobile OS that is truly open. I would really like to throw WhatsApp out of the window, but I still have some contacts that are really unwilling to move, and I have little hope that a new OS will get WhatsApp.

Show threadMehrad   12h ago

@Gina
I wonder if @jolla wants to ever OpenSource their Sailfish OS. But since it is Linux-based, it can be a perfect fit.

That said, we already have @postmarketOS , @ubports , and few more.

Show threadBundyo12h ago

@Mehrad

@Gina @jolla @postmarketOS @ubports

Sailfish is the most mature of the lot. Jolla already started open sourcing some of its components, maybe it is a part of a bigger plan.

Show threadMehrad   12h ago

@bundyo
I'm just hopeful Jolla use this EU initiative opportunity and seal their faith. Linux community is huge and Jolla can really use this popularity to their advantage. I haven't used Sailfish yet, but @postmarketOS on an old Samsung phone was an interesting experience. Jolla has the advantage of actually manufacturing hardware too. So let's see 🤓

@Gina @ubports

Show threadBundyo11h ago

@Mehrad

@postmarketOS @Gina @ubports
@jolla

Absolutey!

Show threadGrapheneOS11h ago

@Mehrad @Gina SailfishOS and Ubuntu Touch have drastically worse privacy and security than the Android Open Source Project. AOSP is fully open source while most of the components of SailfishOS specific to it are closed source and that has barely changed at all.

Jolla being brought up in the context of the EU is always interesting since they were close partners with the Russia government from 2015 through 2023. Russia's government are the only ones able to have a fork of SailfishOS (Aurora OS).

Show threadderegon11h ago
@GrapheneOS @Mehrad @Gina Out of curiosity, what makes Ubuntu Touch particularly insecure and not private, compared to AOSP ?
Show threadGrapheneOS11h ago
@deregon @Mehrad @Gina It brings the lack of privacy and security protections of desktop operating systems to mobile combined with the poor privacy/security patching of a low-end Android OEM. Desktop operating systems don't have anything close to the privacy and security protections of AOSP or iOS. It doesn't have a proper app sandbox, doesn't use strict full system MAC, lacks modern exploit protections, hardly uses memory safe code, doesn't heavily use sandboxing in the OS and much more.
Show threadDavid Ginn12h ago
@Gina Linux. GNOME already supports high DPI mobile displays and touch interfaces. It has a touch keyboard, a phone dialler and a messages app. It just needs to become a choice the manufacturers use in their phones.
Show threadJeffrey Bouter11h ago
@Gina if only Microsoft still made phones (with an OS), we could depend on three US big tech companies. That would be much better! .... right?