[RndTbl] On forcing people to get Google accounts

[Brian Lowe]

A general question for the Roundtable.

Is it acceptable for Canadian companies to compel people to create an account with a giant 
user-hostile American advertising company in order to get stuff done in their lives?

I'm referring to the tendency of companies to make Android apps available only through 
Google Play. In its initial incarnation, the Android App store was free to use. If you wanted an 
app for your Android device, you simply downloaded it from the store. 

No more. Now that the app store is Google Play, one /must/ create a Google account to get 
any app from it, including ones that are ostensibly "free." This requires giving Google some 
personal information, which fortunately need not be accurate. At one point I understand 
Google was requiring a valid telephone number, but that didn't happen when I signed up for a 
(throwaway) account today.

But things get worse. One cannot simply download an APK from Google Play. /The account 
must be associated with an Android device in order to install apps. /I most certainly do not 
want to add a Google account to my Android phone; I don't trust them with the additional 
information it would give them from whatever telemetry the phone is sending. In addition, 
because they're American, they're not subject to Canadian privacy laws.

The most egregious offender here is Shaw Communications. In order to make even basic 
changes to their BlueCurve modem (change the SSID or WiFi password, setup port forwarding 
or DMZ, apply parental controls, etc) one /must/ use their Shaw Home app. They offer no 
alternative.

In truth, there is an alternative: someone kindly uploaded it to apkpure.com. But that's not the 
case for my Credit Union's app: it's not on apkpure. So if I wanted to use that app, I must 
create a Google /and/ add it to my phone.

Why should I have to do that? Like I said, Google is a huge, user-hostile  American advertising 
company that's not subject to Canadian privacy laws. So why is it permissible for Canadian 
companies to compel me to do business with them?

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