- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
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Google is making it mandatory to have Play Services for its next-generation reCAPTCHA system on Android.
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Your phone will need to be running Play Services version 25.41.30 or greater when the system asks you to scan a QR code for verification.
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This hurdle means that de-Googled phones will fail the verification test by default.
Don’t panic
A reminder that there are alternatives to reCAPTCHA. It is not the only solution, or even likely the best solution.
And if people are not even able to attempt to get to your site, you’re going to look for an alternative, several of which are essentially drop-in replacements.
Fuck google, fuck their captcha and fuck websites that use their captcha.
Then you don’t use those websites. Oh well.
Cool, thanks. Guess I don’t need to pay my water bill anymore.
Your water utilities company has no legal basis to force you into using a google product. It’s a hassle, but locking you out of paying your bills for a mandatory utility due to restrictive infrastructure is probably grounds for suing.
Or you tweak the AOSP build to declare itself a PC or something else?
What if that’s not enough, what if this reCAPTCHA mandates Windows, macOS, or the upcoming AluminumOS on desktops too, or blocks desktops out entirely other than AluminumOS devices?
They can’t mandate, or block desktops. Too many possibilities. Too many old machines that can’t be updated.





