I deactivated Google Play on my phone.
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@CiaraNi @ThePolishDispatch @raymaccarthy Actually a good idea. It also reduces the attack surface.
@martinvermeer @ThePolishDispatch @raymaccarthy It's certainly simpler, at any rate
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@CiaraNi I've always lived like this, so I never really had to change my ways. So yeah, I guess it's easy for me to say how easy it is.
And in the Netherlands the situation is relatively okay. Sure, there are some places I can't go and some things I can't do, but when I then hear stories about Sweden with their Mobile BankID for everything and many Swedes not even knowing what their physical currency looks like, that really makes me shiver..
@kevin Sweden and London, the two places I've had most problems paying with cash. I now actively stick to cash for over-the-counter transactions here (Denmark) on a 'use it or lose it' principle.
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@CiaraNi Is is safe to assume that this "app" is just a bundled homepage with no sensible reason to run directly on your phone?
@jordgubben I don't know - I don't know anything about the technical side. If it's anything to go by: there were some features in the app that aren't on the webpage or aren't as user-friendly in the web browser.
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@CiaraNi correction: not 25 but 22yo, 2004, made in Finland.
Original BL5c battery had to be augmented in 2019 as phone's standby time lowered to mere three days and talking time to 5hrs. Battery of course replacable in 5 seconds. Artifacts on the left are not damage, just protective tape edge to make it easy replacable.
@ohir 22 years young - excellent.
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
@CiaraNi are you using default stock rom?
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@CiaraNi
The software sovereignty scale@notsoloud @CiaraNi @sindum Måske man skulle finde på noget mere specifikt i stedet for at “submarine” specifikke krav til licenser ind i det?
Det primære må være friheden til at installere en app på det device man ønsker.
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@kevin Sweden and London, the two places I've had most problems paying with cash. I now actively stick to cash for over-the-counter transactions here (Denmark) on a 'use it or lose it' principle.
@CiaraNi Here in the Netherlands "PIN only" is really a large city thing, and even there it's rare.
I live in a village in the bible belt, and over here it's unthinkable that a shopkeeper would not accept cash.
I have my office in the center of the second largest city in the country, and even there it's rare to find places that don't accept cash. They exist, but the place right next to it will accept it then.
And we have a law coming up next year that makes cash acceptance mandatory.
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@CiaraNi The path for liberty from #gafam is to move your phone to eOS or similar if it's supported on this list https://doc.e.foundation/devices
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
@CiaraNi Worth looking at EU directives on accessibility e.g. Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services (Text with EEA relevance) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019L0882 - we might all be relying on the minimum standard set for accessibility yet!
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
Such an interesting point. I have an issue with public announcements made on (and sometimes only made on) Facebook. I don't have a Facebook account (never have). On my phone, I can't even see the 1st page of a Facebook account. On my computer, I can sometimes see a few posts and a few comments.
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@agturcz @CiaraNi that's awesome, I hope the electricity company does something with your request.
We don't have a similar campaign in the Netherlands, but we do have a similar problem. I'd love to get a Fairphone or any linux based phone with an alternative app store like @fdroidorg , but then my banking apps wouldn't work anymore. Same with DigiD (gov auth).
It would be great if gov and companies offered their apps in non-proprietary app stores. Maybe we need a campaign too @bo
@Gina @agturcz @CiaraNi @fdroidorg @bo or they could just do a responsive web site rather than have to develop two mobile phone apps for Google/Apple. Far easier for everyone.
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@AccordingtoWouter I agree so much. I keep thinking about exactly this. Money and greed is at the root of the enshittification and fascism. We hold the best weapon: mass boycotts. If everyone immediately stopped buying on Amazon, using WhatsApp, etc., they'd feel it.
In the specific case here, it's the electricity company. I can't just not be their customer. But I could delete the app and let them know why. I've boycotted others completely - deleted Spotify, am almost deMicrosofted, etc.
@CiaraNi I have long since ceased to understand why people continue to use META products or hang out on X. There are plenty of alternatives. Meanwhile, the companies in question continue to support Trump and ICE with both data and financial backing, and they also use those platforms to influence people.
They literally help fascists come to power and then complain about it or are shocked by the actions of fascists. Incomprehensible!
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undefined oblomov@sociale.network shared this topic
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
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I mentioned that there is a growing grassroots movement in Denmark to boycott the US and to switch away from BigTech. And that it therefore seems like an outdated strategy for them to say: 'If they want to use all our services, the Danish customers of our company here in Denmark must also be a customer of Google or Apple in the USA.'
To support my reference to a growing tendency to move away from Big Tech, I linked to the #DanmarkSkifter website.
@CiaraNi for those who don't want to use products or services supporting the war crimes in the Middle East and want a warning when opening such a website, i can warmly recommend TheWall app for chrome browsers and for Android https://the-wall.win/
You can choose not to warn for a month, or to put sites on a whitelist. -
I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
@CiaraNi this wasn't even a problem when the websites were the main way to use the internet. instead of the "form follows function" design principle, we've got something like "form follows pre-conspired agenda". we gave it up for tapping a few times less
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@agturcz
I got a nice response from Dutch railways #NS (once I found an in) and they removed the Google Play verification they sort of accidentally introduced. Still have to sideload, though.
Dutch public broadcaster #NOS has switched to just one radio app though which verifies if the app is installed through Google Play. Nice email response saying they don't care.
@CiaraNi @Gina -
@CiaraNi this wasn't even a problem when the websites were the main way to use the internet. instead of the "form follows function" design principle, we've got something like "form follows pre-conspired agenda". we gave it up for tapping a few times less
@voidhoudini Excellent point
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@CiaraNi for those who don't want to use products or services supporting the war crimes in the Middle East and want a warning when opening such a website, i can warmly recommend TheWall app for chrome browsers and for Android https://the-wall.win/
You can choose not to warn for a month, or to put sites on a whitelist.@danie1 Good to know about - thanks for the link
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@darkerknight Thanks for the tip. Good to know the option is there. I have chosen in this case to avoid workarounds. I have deleted their app.
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@CiaraNi I have long since ceased to understand why people continue to use META products or hang out on X. There are plenty of alternatives. Meanwhile, the companies in question continue to support Trump and ICE with both data and financial backing, and they also use those platforms to influence people.
They literally help fascists come to power and then complain about it or are shocked by the actions of fascists. Incomprehensible!
@AccordingtoWouter It's all such a frustrating mess