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I wonder if people would be happy replacing the "Google approves developers" system with a "government requires your ID and address on file so you can be held l

by pjc50 25d ago

I wonder if people would be happy replacing the "Google approves developers" system with a "government requires your ID and address on file so you can be held liable for your apps" system. I suspect not.

drdexebtjl 25d ago
What for? Malicious actors have no shortage of stolen identities.
Frieren 25d ago
That is already a requirement in any civilized country. You cannot run a business without a registered ID, address, etc. for tax purposes. For free (like for real no microtransactions) that is different. For the rest, they already have that.
BiteCode_dev 25d ago
It's virtually the case, google and apple accounts require ID verification, which in turn can be requested by the gov in case of an investigation.
zzril 25d ago
If you don't agree with a decision made by your government, you can vote for someone else next time. If you don't agree with a decision made by Google, what do you do?
- freedomben 25d ago
  The people I vote for never win. Am I really any more empowered with the government than I am with Google? At least with Google I can de-google my life (with some significant losses of convenience, but it is doable)
  - zzril 25d ago
    Personally, I find it easier to live with a decision I don't support if I was simply out-numbered in a fair vote, rather than out-powered by some random company on some random continent. As for doing without Google, I'm kinda doing that myself (using a Linux phone even). But tbh, I think that nowadays moving to another country to escape a government you fundamentally disagree with is easier than moving away from Google.
  - myaccountonhn 25d ago
    You probably have some sort of legal rights and ability to challenge decisions made by your government. If you're banned from Google? Good luck, you're fucked.
everforward 25d ago
The only part that would really be novel is the liability. I would be shocked if you could publish an iOS app without Apple being able to tell the government who you are. Less because Apple cares and more because Apple requires you to pay, which is very hard to do anonymously for something like this (I’d bet the options they offer are effectively “credit card only”).

by pjc50 25d ago

drdexebtjl 25d ago

What for? Malicious actors have no shortage of stolen identities.

Frieren 25d ago

That is already a requirement in any civilized country. You cannot run a business without a registered ID, address, etc. for tax purposes. For free (like for real no microtransactions) that is different. For the rest, they already have that.

BiteCode_dev 25d ago

It's virtually the case, google and apple accounts require ID verification, which in turn can be requested by the gov in case of an investigation.

zzril 25d ago

If you don't agree with a decision made by your government, you can vote for someone else next time. If you don't agree with a decision made by Google, what do you do?

freedomben 25d ago
The people I vote for never win. Am I really any more empowered with the government than I am with Google? At least with Google I can de-google my life (with some significant losses of convenience, but it is doable)
- zzril 25d ago
  Personally, I find it easier to live with a decision I don't support if I was simply out-numbered in a fair vote, rather than out-powered by some random company on some random continent. As for doing without Google, I'm kinda doing that myself (using a Linux phone even). But tbh, I think that nowadays moving to another country to escape a government you fundamentally disagree with is easier than moving away from Google.
- myaccountonhn 25d ago
  You probably have some sort of legal rights and ability to challenge decisions made by your government. If you're banned from Google? Good luck, you're fucked.

everforward 25d ago

The only part that would really be novel is the liability. I would be shocked if you could publish an iOS app without Apple being able to tell the government who you are. Less because Apple cares and more because Apple requires you to pay, which is very hard to do anonymously for something like this (I’d bet the options they offer are effectively “credit card only”).