OK so now @beuc explicitly asks the question on the lack of uninstallation and I followed up here in the room to press #Google on how they keep on pretending disabling apps was the same as removing/uninstalling them and somehow enough for #DMA compliance.

Google's answer: Nothing in combination with lies: they say if an app is disabled, only "remnants of code" remain on the device (wrong) and that "if you remove an app from the Android system partition, the OS breaks" (also wrong). 😠

Excellent online question by @GrapheneOS calling out #Google for selling "payment integrity" as security feature while using it to achieve vendor lock-in.

Google answer: None. Again. @article19's attempt to follow up was denied for sake of time. 😠

#DMA #DigitalMarketsAct

OK coffee break is over here at the @EUCommission #DMA compliance workshop with #Alphabet #Google.

Next up: #AI

Google lobbyist starts off with a just slightly off definition of what AI is: she says it's technology that "thinks, learns and takes decisions".

Sounds more like what they would *like* the tech to be capable off... 😉

#Google keeps on saying "AI is omnipresent" and "it's not going away we need to deal with it", and I want to shout IT'S ONLY OMNIPRESENT BECAUSE YOU DELIBERATELY MADE IT SO !!1! 😆

I've had admin powers at 5+ companies' Google Workspace/G Suite over the past decade or so. Every single one had groups which were misconfigured, often so anyone in the whole company could join without approval or see the message history at https://groups.google.com without being a member at all.

This is because for any sensible configuration of Google Groups when using it for email groups you have to use the "Custom" permissions mode. The default Public mode doesn't allow external people to email the group, but does allow the whole company to see all the messages. The default Team mode, has the same problem of everyone being able to see all the messages.

Also let's not forget that dangerous little "Anyone in the organisation can join" toggle at the bottom which is on by default. So any random new starter can join your confidential company directors group and get all the emails sent to it.

Giving Google the benefit of the doubt here, I think the reasoning might be that Google Groups is intended as a kind of company forum, not for private email groups. However that isn't how anyone uses it in my experience...

#security #infosec #google #googleworkspace

Alt...

Screenshot of the default Google Group settings for team mode

Alt...

Screenshot of the default Google Group settings for public mode

The fast-rising energy demands of Big Tech are undermining the ambitious climate pledges that Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have all made in recent years, according to a report. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/06/30/tech/ai-data-center-net-zero/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #tech #ai #tech #emissions #netzero #bigtech #environment #climatechange #apple #amazon #google #meta #microsoft

@Mer__edith Thank you for the information! It would be nice to have this somewhere on @signalapp's official documentation, though. I could not find this anywhere else.

#Signal #Privacy #BigTech #Google

🆕 blog! “Contactless Payments with GrapheneOS”

Google's monopolistic stranglehold on Android results in poor experience for power-users, and artificially restricts choice for those who have older phones. For example, Google Wallet is the de facto way to use NFC payments on Android. There's one problem though - it only works with Google's Android. If you have…

👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/06/contactless-payments-with-grapheneos/
⸻
#android #google #GrapheneOS #nfc

@pleaseclap The more I think about my own suggestion the more I see bad side effects like you mention.

You know who else will get caught in the crossfire? Those project maintainers. They already field “bug reports” because AI wrote code that doesn’t work and the poor vibe coder assumes it’s a problem in the project not a problem in their AI assistant.

This also demonstrates how #LLMs are an anti-innovation force in technology. If you change something that makes AI-generated code stop working (or make AI generate non-working code more frequently) you will get pressure. Users will ask you to build compatibility shims, keep old versions of API endpoints online, etc. Because people dependent on the content of the training data won’t be able to cope with life moving on and invalidating the training data.

The #LLM will hold us back technologically because it can’t adapt.

Wait until someone like #Google or #AWS tries to deprecate a language runtime like Python 3.10 or Node 20 in their serverless offerings when the time comes. There will be SO much code that LLMs generate that references the retired runtimes. And people won’t know why it doesn’t work. The tech companies will be pressured to keep old stuff online because the people whose job it is to maintain the software can’t cope with fundamental change like that

Just finished PewDiePie's latest Video: "I'm DONE with Google"

Going into it I was hoping that he discovered the Decentralized Web with things like Mastodon or even PeerTube but overall amazing video showing off DeGoogling, I do wonder if he will eventually discover PeerTube and things, along with if he does if he'd even actually host his own instance for his videos but I dealt it due to there's not really money in moving across to the Fediverse for creators like that.

I still highly suggest the video either way.

https://youtu.be/u_Lxkt50xOg?si=Tl8RQuFe4QV6gijY

#PewDiePie #Felix #Linux #LinuxMobile #DeGoogle #Google

I learned something today: Google's Gemini "AI" on phones accesses your data from "Phones, Messages, WhatsApp" and other stuff whether you have Gemini turned on or not. It just keeps the data longer if you turn it on. Oh, and lets it be reviewed by humans (!) for Google's advantage in training "AI" etc.

But this only came to my attention because of an upcoming change: it's going to start keeping your data long-term even if you turn it "off": "#Gemini will soon be able to help you use Phone, #Messages, #WhatsApp, and Utilities on your phone, whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off."

This is, of course, a #privacy and #security #nightmare.

If this is baked into Android, and therefore not removable, I'd have to say I'd recommend against using Android at all starting July 7th.

https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/gemini-ai-will-soon-access-calls-and-messages-on-your-android-even-if-you

#spyware #AI #LLM #Google #spying #phone #Android #private #data

Always a bit nerve-wracking doing this - I had to sacrifice the contents of the SD-card which was a load of music (I have it backed up elsewhere) for the #VW #MIB2 #firmware update - but it all went through OK - it does seem Android Auto is disconnecting and resetting less on the new firmware but this might only be because I'm keeping an eye on the device battery levels - it tends to act up when the phone reaches 80% charge which I've set on "battery care" - lots of #cars have the same problem (not only VW) and neither the manufacturers nor #Google seem to be able to stop it.

I've got the car's built in #navi as a backup (but I don't get speed warnings nor real time traffic, as VW abandoned this service after 3G was ceased in many countries)

#CarMaintenance

I'm so tired of this 😒

#Google #Gemini #AIBubble

Alt...

Google saying that from now on Gemini will "help me" (fuck my life) use Phone, Messages, WhatsApp and Utilities (literal quote) "whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off".

There is only one Google service left that I need to replace and then I will be free of Google. And I think @jottacloud will replace that last service. I created a free 5GB account to see if the service will work for me and it's working brilliantly. Not based in the US, secure, privacy-focused, and powered by 100% green energy. I'll be upgrading to a premium plan.

#cloud #google #googlefree

The disclosure post was published today, June 20. The intrusion was "detected" on June 12. But nowhere does it say WHEN the intrusion began. And the company probably doesn't even know that yet.

"Preliminary findings indicate that the unauthorized party used social engineering tactics to gain access to our network."

"Potentially impacted files contain claims information, health information, social security numbers, and/or other personal information, related to customers, beneficiaries, employees, agents, and other individuals in our U.S. business."

The Record: Aflac says it stopped attack launched by ‘sophisticated cybercrime group’ https://therecord.media/aflac-cyberattack-potential-data-breach @therecord_media @jgreig #cybersecurity #Infoec #Google

Posted today, Aflac Incorporated Discloses Cybersecurity Incident https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aflac-incorporated-discloses-cybersecurity-incident-302487036.html?tc=eml_cleartime

> Pixel 9, Android 16: "Do you want to merge these contacts?"

Yes, I'd like you to merge them, not simply keep the one with the least amount of data while destroying the rest.

> phone: "Google Contacts merged successfully!" 🫠

You just did the exact thing I didn't want you to do... wtf. This isn't even Gemini's fault this time, Ai tools can do this correctly, even a five line python script can do a better job than this. sed and awk can do a better job than this! 🫥

* ver: 16-BP31.250523.006
* kernel 6.1.129-android14-11-g4cadbfbbe186-ab13408047 \#1 Fri Apr 25 02:03:44 UTC 2025

#thanksIhateIt #programming #android #google #wtf #developer #beta

BTW -- these scam videos being made out of short video segments being generated by #Google #AI could easily be made even more convincing. The ones simply fading out between the maximum 8 second video segments could instead insert an "informational graphic" or similar at the junctures, which would make them almost undetectable even to experts. Google isn't the only one creating this nightmare, but they're happily on the path.

#google took down the (centralized) internet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROJ3PdDmirY

BEWARE of Google AI generated video scams -- eight second segments can be a critical clue!

Fraudsters are now using the new advanced #Google #AI video system to create scam videos (including claiming to be from #YouTube) of humans speaking to camera. These are EXTREMELY convincing. One clue (for now) is that the created videos are often limited to eight second segments. To create longer scam videos, fraudsters are stringing together these segments of no more than eight seconds each, usually with a quick fade between them to mask the discontinuities between the segments.

Google is making life much easier for the fraudsters, but much worse for you.

Dang, it sounds like #Google is really trying to kill #FOSS #Android OSes.

https://tilvids.com/videos/watch/848e13c7-1bcf-49d3-ad75-02055c0b9576

What are my #AOSP peeps planning to do?

If OS updates get a lot slower because of this, I might have to go back to iPhone. 😭🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

#CalyxOS #GrapheneOS #LineageOS #Calyx #GOS #Lineage

UPDATE: This update from the #CalyxOS project helps answer some questions: https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/

It would seem that all Pixel devices will require a lot more work to port Android 16 to. It's not impossible, by any stretch, but Google has absolutely stopped helping the community in any way.

This is very bad news, all around. Not the worst news, by far, but quite bad.