[RndTbl] On forcing people to get Google accounts

[J. King]

On November 3, 2022 9:11:05 p.m. EDT, Brian Lowe <brian2 at groupbcl.ca> wrote:
>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?
>

If you're not worried about violating Google's terms of service you can use Aurora Store (available from F-Droid) to download and install software from Google Play without a Google account associated to you. 

Obviously there's no excusing their user-hostile behaviour, but there is in fact that other option. Whether your banking software would actually work is a separate question, though, as they are, as a class, notorious for requiring SafetyNet and other proprietary Google dross. 
-- 
J. King