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Android will become a locked-down platform in 194 days
(keepandroidopen.org)
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this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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Nothing changes for now but other moves by Google clearly show they are trying to kill 3rd party ROMs by locking down Android's code. In my opinion, unless EU steps in and mandates phone manufacturers and Google to support google free apps we're fucked.
EU wants phones to be locked down so they can then make Google implement mass surveillance for "national security" reasons
What are you basing this on? If you say "Chat Control" I will just ignore you.
Chat control is an issue tbough why ignore it?
Chat Control is not implementing mass surveillance and has nothing to do with national security. I that's their only argument they are confused and there's nothing to talk about. If they have other arguments I would like to hear them.
It likely is not their only grievance as other things exist like porn blocking, ID implementations and VPN discussions.
Also chat control is reviewing private conversations. It is a provacy breach. There is no circumstance where this is not abusable. Here are some truths to how the law is presented:
1: nothing can be seen, only if certain pre registered files are recognised 2: politicians, military and associated personnel are exempted.
Meaning it can see more than nothing or else it is acceptable for these people to possess these materials.
It is also able to controlled a granular level person to person.
Porn blocking? In EU? I heard about it only in UK. Which EU countries block porn?
ID implementation... yes, all EU countries have ID. Many have digital IDs. What's with it?
VPN discussion isn't really proof of anything. Even Chat Control 2.0 isn't approved yet, it's just a project. VPN blocking is not even a proposal. It just someone mentioned in some report. Hardly a reason to claim that EU is becoming a surveillance state.
Do you sit and wait to be impacted by something before you consider forming an opinion on it andk maybe acting?
IDs and digital IDs are not the same as the discussion surrounding online identification legislation. One is state ID that is pretty common. The other is tech companies gettimg a data harvesting opportunity.
I didnt make the claim, but there is ample evidence to support it from where I sit.
Act if you want to, no one is stopping you. For me it's just silly that people talk about EU becoming surveillance state without being able to show a single valid example. Like when you said EU is blocking porn and VPN access. I'm still waiting for examples where it was done inside EU. Then everyone claims digital IDs are evil without realizing they have been used without issues in EU for 20 years. It's like saying that EU will become a military dictatorship because countries have guns.
The implementation of digital IDs is where there is scope for abuse. Of course they can be done well, I would be delighted for a sovereign zero knowledge system to be implemented. Estonia has had a good system for a long time.
Chat control weakens encryption which is an issue for VPNs who have e2e encryption.
Here is the link for adult content requiring third party system confirmation of ID https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/eu-age-verification
Privacy, security and being open sourcr should be priorities for any system legally required.
It's like saying that implementing police force is problematic because there is scope for abuse. Do you have any proof that any of EU countries that implemented digital ID over the past decades is using it for surveillance? If not you're just spreading conspiracy theories.
It doesn't. You don't know what is in this legislation and you're spreading conspiracy theories.
This says it's privacy preserving and open source. Do you have any proof that this will be used to track/surveil people? Or is is just another conspiracy theory?
Finally, look at all things like privacy index, press freedom index, freedom of speech index, data on independent courts and so on. Do you see any proof that EU is slipping on those issues? Not right wing countries like Hungary, EU as a whole. Can you find any proof at all that EU is abandoning it's principles and drifting in the direction of surveillance state? Or is it all just because of some rumors, misinformation and false claims?
You didnt answer anything or refute anything, you just say that its ridiculous and not to be worried about the rightward leap. Chat control is an issue. Leaders are making public remarks re VPNs and private industry is trying to involve itself with the ID space as it grows as a necessity.
You live under a rock my friend.
Look at history. Look at the anology of how a frog will not jump out of boiling water if the temperature is slowly increased.
They are slowly increasing the temperature, and chat control is a big step for them. If you cannot see that then there is no hope for you
Repeating some scary conspiracy theories you read about online doesn't make you informed. It makes you naive.
Everyone has an agenda, it would do you well in life to understand that
The EU has no interest in allowing privacy on devices, since it is increasingly attempting to control alternative narratives. We're in touching distance of the Fourth Reich now.
This describes the EU, in a nutshell https://theuaob.substack.com/p/the-comprador-calculus-why-europes The fascists have already won.
Remember that the EU arose in part from the institutions set up to deter the same type of nationalist fascism rising again, such as the ECSC. Sadly, we may have encouraged Russian -funded American -spread international fascism in its place, although they don't seem to control the EU yet.
Capable and seen in the past, yes, but the current wave of it is indeed funded and spread by Russians and Americans.
American billionaires literally funded the US fascism and have made it public policy to support fascistic governments and groups within the EU. See the US sec of state endorsing Orban this week as evidence.
Honeslty think you ae a bot in here to spread shit and be divisive for the sake of it.
You can't distinguish between europe and the EU. Europe has a colonial history. The EU was formed with peace and stability in mind.
The atrocities committed by european states across the centuries should be remembered and reparations made to the best possible degree.
The stability that the EU brought to the region should be remembered, lauded and fought for.
Sorry I dont subscribe to your view that once any rvil has taken place in a land that those people can never then be a force for good.
The EU is not a NATO adherant/member. Many of the EU's members are also NATO members, but not all.
There are countries that joined the EU both before and after Spain that are not NATO members. Membership of one is not a prerequisite for another. If any politicians told you otherwise, ask them why.
The EU was founded on peace. Post world war 2 , right up until now was the longest period of peace on the continent in moder history.
You do you man, but parroting divisive talking points just to be doing it is asset work.
Where did the EU bomb? We are not France, and criticisms of their actions and territorial claims are legitmate.
NATO isnt the EU.
Would not be sure about that. There has been steps in opposite directions in the past. Remember the regulation regarding 3. party app Stores on IOS, or even further back in the past the "Free Brwoser Choice" in MS-Windows.
It is surely called competition law?
I'm dumb But using grapheneos How would them locking down the code affect graphene?
Some apps require google play, like android auto and maps.
I'm using grapheneos with open street maps, so I don't think there would be any problem with that. There is a work around to load some apps that require google play with out a google account. I'm guessing that is what would be affected.
Graphen is based on AOSP - Android Open Source Project. As the name implies, that's the part of Android that's Open Source. Google publishes this code, Graphene OS people modify it and release. All bugfixes, security fixes and new features go there. Google first stopped accepting contributions from other devs and now they are limiting how often will they release AOSP and how often will they publish security fixes. This makes development of Graphene OS more difficult and it looks like Google's ultimate goal is to make Android closed source. Graphene OS doesn't have the resources to develop Android by themselves so this would probably kill the project.