I blocked Google's tracking domains at my router and saw exactly what my Android was hiding
https://www.makeuseof.com/blocked-googles-tracking-domains-saw-exactly-what-android-hiding/

Most Android privacy toggles are rather placebos? I'm shocked!

#Google #Tracking

I blocked Google's tracking domains at my router and saw exactly what my Android was hiding

Android says nothing. The logs say everything.

^{Yadullah Abidi (MakeUseOf)}

Strafen für Meta und Google: Schadensersatz wegen Social-Media-Sucht

Es ging um das Suchtpotenzial von Social Media - und eine 20-jährige Klägerin hat Recht bekommen: Ein US-Gericht verurteilte die Konzerne Meta und Google zu Entschädigungen in Millionenhöhe. Das Urteil könnte wegweisend sein. Von Nils Dampz.#SocialMedia #Google #Meta
Strafen für Meta und Google: Schadensersatz wegen Social-Media-Sucht

"Google Safe Browsing missed 84% of confirmed phishing sites in our dataset. […] Google is, quite literally, hosting phishing attacks on its own infrastructure and not catching them with its own detection tools"

https://www.norn-labs.com/blog/huginn-report-feb-2026

#Google #SafeBrowsing

Day 4 again, without any response. Quite a reliable service that: you can rely on it to let you wait. What does that run on, that it takes that long? An Arduino Pico? Needless to say that the alleged malware file does not even exist, and never was malicious.

Filed another review request.

Again: disable that stuff. Seems to have more false positives than real stuff. Especially as entire domains hosting the real stuff (like storage.googleapis.com) are excluded from scan.

#SafeBrowsing #Google

Day 4. A response, finally. The usual clown message: Review failed. Well, the "clown message" is the one in the attached graphic: They don't know themselves. Something something link, but they don't know which. Or, in other words: "These URLs host malware or unwanted software downloads: None". 🤦‍♂️

If that's how reliable their services are, maybe they should NOT hold the keys to the entire Internet (and app stores)? 🤔

#Google #SafeBrowsing

I had filed a reevaluation request before I tooted this. 2 days later, no reply yet (why does their bot take THAT long?). Instead I hear, another "fine tool" kicked in: Play "Protect" refuses installation of the allegedly malicious app, and even uninstalls them AUTOMATICALLY, without asking you! https://github.com/sunilpaulmathew/AppVaultX/issues/6#issuecomment-4079105010

Another rather questionable tool you might consider to get rid of (unless you install a lot from "questionable sources").

#Google #SafeBrowsing #PlayProtect

Oh my, those clowns again. They cannot even tell servers apart, but want to play the "Safety Police"? What are they doing for a living, by the way (apart from slurping and selling our data)?

Yes, that's the same file as in January. On a different server. But they flag yet another, that does not even have that file. Incompetent folks, they should shut down that "service". Will they ever stop that nonsense?!?

#Google #SafeBrowsing #failure

≪ Hummel zwischen Krokusblüten ≫

Das #Google #Pixel 7 Pro kam, wie auch angekündigt, bereits heute.

Auspacken – in die Hand nehmen – passt. Ganz anders als beim #Samsung #Galaxy S21 Ultra, mit dem ich gleich von Anfang an überhaupt nicht warm werden konnte – von den offensichtlichen Defiziten im Bereich Fotografie einmal ganz abgesehen.

Nachdem ich es eingerichtet hatte, und auch schon die #Android - Version auf 16 aktualisiert hatte, bin ich eine kleine Runde mit dem Rad gefahren und habe einige Schnappschüsse gemacht. Auch damit konnte ich mich sofort anfreunden.

Morgen zur Moorkatzenrundtour nehme ich deshalb auch nur das Pixel mit.

_(Bildbeschreibung: Eines meiner ersten Fotos mit dem Google Pixel 7 Pro.)_

#photography #fotografie #foto #photo #postprocessed #myphoto #mywork #ownwork #nature #natur #umwelt

Interesting development. Nice to see an independent Android build get a preinstall option on a non-google phone.

Motorola confirms GrapheneOS support for a future phone, bringing over features
https://9to5google.com/2026/03/01/motorola-confirms-grapheneos-partnership-for-a-future-smartphone-porting-features/

#Andoid #Google #Motorola #CustomRom #GrapheneOS

Motorola confirms GrapheneOS support for a future phone, bringing over features

Motorola has announced a partnership with GrapheneOS which will see a phone with support, as well as features ported to other devices.

^{Ben Schoon (9to5Google)}

The #FDroid website has a new banner on top to remind visitors that #Google did not change course and #Android will be locked-down in under 200 days.

If you care about the freedom to control your devices and care about the privacy of you data, please contact your representative and make your voice heard.

https://keepandroidopen.org/ (thanks @marcprux) has the resources to guide you.

We know users will rarely visit the site so the Client(s) will get a banner soon too.

Thank you for your support!

Keep Android Open

Advocating for Android as a free, open platform for everyone to build apps on.

^{keepandroidopen.org}

We've requested another review yesterday evening. But despite of that system being fully automated, and quite obviously no single human involved, there's still no response – 15+ hours later.

They still flag us for files which no longer exist even.

Are they incapable of running their own services properly? But then, powerful enough to decide how others have to run theirs? This is ridiculous.

Hard not to assume bad intention there.

#Google #DSA

Oh sweet, Google is adding Prompt Injection as a Service to Gmail! 💩

Google is unleashing Gemini AI features on Gmail. Users will have to opt out
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/08/google-adds-gemini-features-to-gmail-message-summaries-proofreading-.html

#Google #FuckGoogle

Google is unleashing Gemini AI features on Gmail. Users will have to opt out

Google is adding more Gemini features to Gmail, the company's latest effort to spread its core AI product across its product portfolio.

^{Jennifer Elias (CNBC)}

#Google trips over its own words, when they sell you #Android it's the best computing device in the world that does everything. After you bought it Google doesn't let you do anything *you* want to.

#Sideload is a made-up term. Putting software on your computer is simply called “installing”, regardless of whether that computer is in your pocket or on your desk.

What Do You Talk About When You Talk About Sideloading?

What does Google?

Here's #FDroid: https://f-droid.org/2025/10/28/sideloading.html

What We Talk About When We Talk About Sideloading | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

We recently published a blog post with our reaction to the new Google Developer Program and how it impacts your freedom to use the devices that you own in th...

^f-droid.org

Jednocześnie bawi mnie, zaskakuje i niepokoi, jak czołowi polscy "obrońcy wolności" kulą ogon, cenzurując siebie na Youtube (czasem cenzurując również swoich rozmówców) w obawie przed "demonetyzacją" lub banicją z platformy Google. A tacy są mocni w gębie! Ale tylko wtedy, gdy nic ich to nie kosztuje.

Żenada.

#Warzecha #Zychowicz i wielu innych

#wolnośćSłowa #cenzura #google #YouTube #podcasty

Broken links aside (fix incoming), #FDroid raises the case against the #Google developer forced registration once again.

We'll skip the small talk, go read, and better yet, spread this wide and far: https://f-droid.org/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html so people are made aware, actions can be taken and #Android is kept truly open!

F-Droid and Google's Developer Registration Decree | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

For the past 15 years1, F-Droid has provided a safe and securehaven for Android users around the world to find and install free and opensource apps. When con...

^f-droid.org

#Google: We need to limit #sideloading, #GooglePlay is so much safer!

Meanwhile in the real world:

https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/26/apps_android_malware/

Malware-ridden apps made it into Google's Play Store, scored 19 million downloads

: Everything's fine, the ad slinger assures us

^{Iain Thomson (The Register)}

"Sideloading" is the rentseeker word for "being able to run software of your choosing on a computing device you purchased". There is no reasonable case for an operating system developer having a say over what programs you run on your hardware.

#Android #Google

"they could raise a billion new humans to maturity and train them to be Google customers (e.g., the business plan for Google Classroom)" 🤮
https://pluralistic.net/2025/06/30/accounting-gaffs/#artificial-income
Excellent blog by @pluralistic
And lets kick Google out of our classrooms!

#Google #BigTech

⚠️ In four days Gemini wants to scan your phone ⚠️

Stop #Google now: 👉 https://tuta.com/blog/how-to-disable-gemini-on-android

#GeminiAI #Google #Android #PrivacyMatters

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.

#EU ruling: tracking-based advertising by #Google, #Microsoft, #Amazon, #X, across Europe has no legal basis

https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/eu-ruling-tracking-based-advertising-by-google-microsoft-amazon-x-across-europe-has-no-legal-basis/

#privacy #politics

EU ruling: tracking-based advertising by Google, Microsoft, Amazon, X, across Europe has no legal basis - Irish Council for Civil Liberties

Landmark court decision against “TCF” consent pop ups on 80% of the internet

^{Johnny Ryan (Irish Council for Civil Liberties)}

Fitting. Blurry lines for the blurry ethics.

#Google #Tech #Logo #News #Software

FreeTube ─ Watch YouTube without ads, without login, and with private playlists.

https://freetubeapp.io

#google #YouTube #privacy #ad #safety #security #InfoSec #data #advertisement #tech #technology #BigTech #app #apps #tip #tips

De-google-ify Internet

Amazing campaign by the French not-for-profit association Framasoft.

The De-google-ify Internet project offers 26 ethical and alternative online tools that may be used by everyone.

They build open source alternatives to many Google services like Youtube, Agenda, Docs, Forms, Maps etc, as well other services to replace Doodle, Facebook Event, Github, Zoom, Slack and much more!

Check their beautiful website, watch the videos to know more about their work and follow them here in Mastodon:

@Framasoft

https://degooglisons-internet.org/

#europe #opensource #europeanalternatives #EUtech #boycott #degoogle #google

Me: Please don't use Chromium-based browsers, use Firefox instead. Google has way too much control over the web because of Chromium and they'll be sure to leverage that in order to benefit themselves.

Chromium: Hey all, we're getting rid of ad-blockers because it's cutting into our record-breaking revenue! I mean, uh, we're deprecating Manifest V2 for, uh, security. Yeah.

Me: See? Please use Firefox. ​

Mozilla: Hey friends, AI is really cool! *steps on rake* Hey friends, we're making an ads business! *steps on rake* Hey friends, we have a ToS with either the most nefarious or the most incompetent language ever! *steps on rake* Also AI is cool!!!

Me: ... ​ I hate it here.

#Mozilla #Firefox #Google #Chrome #Chromium #FOSS

jwz's app is gone from the Play store because he refuses to give them his private details.

https://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/google.html

I too have abandoned Google Play Store listings for my Android apps because of their unreasonable demand not just to have my address details, but to publish them on the store.

My apps are available on F-Droid.

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.artificialworlds.rabbitescape/

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.artificialworlds.boxstacker/

#google #fdroid

Rabbit Escape | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

Lemmings-like puzzle/action game

^f-droid.org

Google is absolutely cooked as a web search engine, thanks to the current crop of LLM chatbot AI.

The scope of the harm it will do while slowly sinking into irrelevance is immeasurable, though.

#AI #Google #StochasticParrots #LLM #ChatBot

Peter

2024-10-23 19:53:59

cool cool cool. https://bsky.app/profile/singingpigs.online/post/3l63woonobj2l

It's been interesting reading this #reddit thread. People are understandably upset about the prospect of #youtube showing ads during the pause screen. Lots of people threatening to leave YouTube, but at the end of the day, most won't.

There are alternatives. I've been running #tilvids for over 4 years now. We have great content creators like @thelinuxEXP sharing content. All people have to do is actually start voting with their eyeballs...

https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1fkbjtk/youtube_confirms_your_pause_screen_is_now_fair/

#tech #Technology #google

Google has been declared a monopolist, but will the company finally be broken up or are we about to see the limits of antitrust once again?

On #TechWontSaveUs, I spoke with Rob Larson about where Google’s monopoly fight goes from here and what we should remember about how Microsoft evaded being broken up in the early 2000s.

Full ep: https://techwontsave.us/episode/238_will_googles_monopoly_be_broken_up_w_rob_larson

#tech #google #antitrust #competition #monopoly #microsoft

Israel’s genocide in Gaza depends on the infrastructure and services of tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.

On #TechWontSaveUs, I spoke with Mohammad Khatami and Gabi Schubiner of No Tech for Apartheid about how tech workers are pushing back on the companies’ complicity and trying to end their relationships with Israel.

Listen to the full episode: https://techwontsave.us/episode/235_no_tech_for_apartheid_w_mohammad_khatami__gabi_schubiner

#tech #israel #gaza #palestine #genocide #google #microsoft #amazon

A reminder that our tromsite.com domain is blocked by Google and thus we cannot send any emails form our tromsite.com domain to any Gmail accounts... We have tried to fix this but so far no luck.

Google is an ad company so better not use Gmail in the first place.

#tromlive #google #gmail #privacy

#Apple, #Google, and Meta are failing #DMA compliance, #EU suspects

Not even three weeks after the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) took effect, the #EuropeanCommission (EC) announced Monday that it is already probing three out of six gatekeepers—Apple, Google, and Meta—for suspected non-compliance.
#privacy

https://arstechnica.com/?p=2012401

Apple, Google, and Meta are failing DMA compliance, EU suspects

Tech giants must defend against EU's "concrete evidence" of non-compliance.

^{Ars Technica}

Just in case you're wondering why #Apple & #Google etc. are such jerks about implementing #DMA, here are some numbers:

* play store revenue 2019: $ 11.2 Billion
https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-play-app-store-revenue-reached-112-bln-2019-lawsuit-says-2021-08-28/
* apple appstore revenue 2019: $ 55.5 Billion
https://www.statista.com/statistics/296226/annual-apple-app-store-revenue/
* apple app store made more money on games alone in 2019 than nintendo, microsoft and sony combined
https://www.techspot.com/news/91577-apple-reportedly-made-more-money-games-2019-than.html

Apple reportedly made more money from games in 2019 than Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, and Activision Blizzard combined

The surprising revelation comes from a Wall Street Journal report examining the App Store's profitability and how much of it comes from games. Using Sensor Tower data,...

^{Rob Thubron (TechSpot)}