On January 1st of 2026, Texas will be required to give ID to download apps from the app stores. It doesn't matter if it's NSFW or not.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/37439450
S.B. No. 2420AN ACT relating to the regulation of platforms for the sale and distribution of software applications for mobile devices. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 5, Business & Commerce Code, is amended by adding Chapter 121 to read as follows: CHAPTER 121. SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS Sec. 121.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the App Store Accountability Act. Sec. 121.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: (1) "Age category" means information collected by the owner of an app store to designate a user based on the age categories described by Section 121.021(b). (2) "App store" means a publicly available Internet website, software application, or other electronic service that distributes software applications from the owner or developer of a software application to the user of a mobile device. (3) "Minor" means a child who is younger than 18 years of age who has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes. (4) "Mobile device" means a portable, wireless electronic device, including a tablet or smartphone, capable of transmitting, receiving, processing, and storing information wirelessly that runs an operating system designed to manage hardware resources and perform common services for software applications on handheld electronic devices. (5) "Personal data" means any information, including sensitive data, that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable individual. The term includes pseudonymous data when the data is used by a person who processes or determines the purpose and means of processing the data in conjunction with additional information that reasonably links the data to an identified or identifiable individual. The term does not include deidentified data or publicly available information. SUBCHAPTER B. DUTIES OF APP STORES Sec. 121.021. DUTY TO VERIFY AGE OF USER; AGE CATEGORIES. (a) When an individual in this state creates an account with an app store, the owner of the app store shall use a commercially reasonable method of verification to verify the individual's age category under Subsection (b). (b) The owner of an app store shall use the following age categories for assigning a designation: (1) an individual who is younger than 13 years of age is considered a "child"; (2) an individual who is at least 13 years of age but younger than 16 years of age is considered a "younger teenager"; (3) an individual who is at least 16 years of age but younger than 18 years of age is considered an "older teenager"; and (4) an individual who is at least 18 years of age is considered an "adult." Sec. 121.022. PARENTAL CONSENT REQUIRED. (a) If the owner of the app store determines under Section 121.021 that an individual is a minor who belongs to an age category that is not "adult," the owner shall require that the minor's account be affiliated with a parent account belonging to the minor's parent or guardian. (b) For an account to be affiliated with a minor's account as a parent account, the owner of an app store must use a commercially reasonable method to verify that the account belongs to an individual who: (1) the owner of the app store has verified belongs to the age category of "adult" under Section 121.021; and (2) has legal authority to make a decision on behalf of the minor with whose account the individual is seeking affiliation. (c) A parent account may be affiliated with multiple minors' accounts. (d) Except as provided by this section, the owner of an app store must obtain consent from the minor's parent or guardian through the parent account affiliated with the minor's account before allowing the minor to: (1) download a software application; (2) purchase a software application; or (3) make a purchase in or using a software application. (e) The owner of an app store must: (1) obtain consent for each individual download or purchase sought by the minor; and (2) notify the developer of each applicable software application if a minor's parent or guardian revokes consent through a parent account. (f) To obtain consent from a minor's parent or guardian under Subsection (d), the owner of an app store may use any reasonable means to: (1) disclose to the parent or guardian: (A) the specific software application or purchase for which consent is sought; (B) the rating under Section 121.052 assigned to the software application or purchase; (C) the specific content or other elements that led to the rating assigned under Section 121.052; (D) the nature of any collection, use, or distribution of personal data that would occur because of the software application or purchase; and (E) any measures taken by the developer of the software application or purchase to protect the personal data of users; (2) give the parent or guardian a clear choice to give or withhold consent for the download or purchase; and (3) ensure that the consent is given: (A) by the parent or guardian; and (B) through the account affiliated with a minor's account under Subsection (a). (g) If a software developer provides the owner of an app store with notice of a change under Section 121.053, the owner of the app store shall: (1) notify any individual who has given consent under this section for a minor's use or purchase relating to a previous version of the changed software application; and (2) obtain consent from the individual for the minor's continued use or purchase of the software application. (h) The owner of an app store is not required to obtain consent from a minor's parent or guardian for: (1) the download of a software application that: (A) provides a user with direct access to emergency services, including: (i) 9-1-1 emergency services; (ii) a crisis hotline; or (iii) an emergency assistance service that is legally available to a minor; (B) limits data collection to information: (i) collected in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. Section 6501 et seq.); and (ii) necessary for the provision of emergency services; (C) allows a user to access and use the software application without requiring the user to create an account with the software application; and (D) is operated by or in partnership with: (i) a governmental entity; (ii) a nonprofit organization; or (iii) an authorized emergency service provider; or (2) the purchase or download of a software application that is operated by or in partnership with a nonprofit organization that: (A) develops, sponsors, or administers a standardized test used for purposes of admission to or class placement in a postsecondary educational institution or a program within a postsecondary educational institution; and (B) is subject to Subchapter D, Chapter 32, Education Code. Sec. 121.023. DISPLAY OF AGE RATING FOR SOFTWARE APPLICATION. (a) If the owner of an app store that operates in this state has a mechanism for displaying an age rating or other content notice, the owner shall: (1) make available to users an explanation of the mechanism; and (2) display for each software application available for download and purchase on the app store the age rating and other content notice. (b) If the owner of an app store that operates in this state does not have a mechanism for displaying an age rating or other content notice, the owner shall display for each software application available for download and purchase on the app store: (1) the rating under Section 121.052 assigned to the software application; and (2) the specific content or other elements that led to the rating assigned under Section 121.052. (c) The information displayed under this section must be clear, accurate, and conspicuous. Sec. 121.024. INFORMATION FOR SOFTWARE APPLICATION DEVELOPERS. The owner of an app store that operates in this state shall, using a commercially available method, allow the developer of a software application to access current information related to: (1) the age category assigned to each user under Section 121.021(b); and (2) whether consent has been obtained for each minor user under Section 121.022. Sec. 121.025. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA. The owner of an app store that operates in this state shall protect the personal data of users by: (1) limiting the collection and processing of personal data to the minimum amount necessary for: (A) verifying the age of an individual; (B) obtaining consent under Section 121.022; and (C) maintaining compliance records; and (2) transmitting personal data using industry-standard encryption protocols that ensure data integrity and confidentiality. Sec. 121.026. VIOLATION. (a) The owner of an app store that operates in this state violates this subchapter if the owner: (1) enforces a contract or a provision of a terms of service agreement against a minor that the minor entered into or agreed to without consent under Section 121.022; (2) knowingly misrepresents information disclosed under Section 121.022(f)(1); (3) obtains a blanket consent to authorize multiple downloads or purchases; or (4) shares or discloses personal data obtained for purposes of Section 121.021, except as required by Section 121.024 or other law. (b) The owner of an app store is not liable for a violation of Section 121.021 or 121.022 if the owner of the app store: (1) uses widely adopted industry standards to: (A) verify the age of each user as required by Section 121.021; and (B) obtain parental consent as required by Section 121.022; and (2) applies those standards consistently and in good faith. Sec. 121.027. CONSTRUCTION OF SUBCHAPTER. Nothing in this subchapter may be construed to: (1) prevent the owner of an app store that operates in this state from taking reasonable measures to block, detect, or prevent the distribution of: (A) obscene material, as that term is defined by Section 43.21, Penal Code; or (B) other material that may be harmful to minors; (2) require the owner of an app store that operates in this state to disclose a user's personal data to the developer of a software application except as provided by this subchapter; (3) allow the owner of an app store that operates in this state to use a measure required by this chapter in a manner that is arbitrary, capricious, anticompetitive, or unlawful; (4) block or filter spam; (5) prevent criminal activity; or (6) protect the security of an app store or software application. SUBCHAPTER C. DUTIES OF SOFTWARE APPLICATION DEVELOPERS Sec. 121.051. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter applies only to the developer of a software application that the developer makes available to users in this state through an app store. Sec. 121.052. DESIGNATION OF AGE RATING. (a) The developer of a software application shall assign to each software application and to each purchase that can be made through the software application an age rating based on the age categories described by Section 121.021(b). (b) The developer of a software application shall provide to each app store through which the developer makes the software application available: (1) each rating assigned under Subsection (a); and (2) the specific content or other elements that led to each rating provided under Subdivision (1). Sec. 121.053. CHANGES TO SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS. (a) The developer of a software application shall provide notice to each app store through which the developer makes the software application available before making any significant change to the terms of service or privacy policy of the software application. (b) For purposes of this section, a change is significant if it: (1) changes the type or category of personal data collected, stored, or shared by the developer; (2) affects or changes the rating assigned to the software application under Section 121.052 or the content or elements that led to that rating; (3) adds new monetization features to the software application, including: (A) new opportunities to make a purchase in or using the software application; or (B) new advertisements in the software application; or (4) materially changes the functionality or user experience of the software application. Sec. 121.054. AGE VERIFICATION. (a) The developer of a software application shall create and implement a system to use information received under Section 121.024 to verify: (1) for each user of the software application, the age category assigned to that user under Section 121.021(b); and (2) for each minor user of the software application, whether consent has been obtained under Section 121.022. (b) The developer of a software application shall use information received from the owner of an app store under Section 121.024 to perform the verification required by this section. Sec. 121.055. USE OF PERSONAL DATA. (a) The developer of a software application may use personal data provided to the developer under Section 121.024 only to: (1) enforce restrictions and protections on the software application related to age; (2) ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations; and (3) implement safety-related features and default settings. (b) The developer of a software application shall delete personal data provided by the owner of an app store under Section 121.024 on completion of the verification required by Section 121.054. (c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), nothing in this chapter relieves a social media platform from doing age verification as required by law. Sec. 121.056. VIOLATION. (a) Except as provided by this section, the developer of a software application violates this subchapter if the developer: (1) enforces a contract or a provision of a terms of service agreement against a minor that the minor entered into or agreed to without consent under Section 121.054; (2) knowingly misrepresents an age rating or reason for that rating under Section 121.052; or (3) shares or discloses the personal data of a user that was acquired under this subchapter. (b) The developer of a software application is not liable for a violation of Section 121.052 if the software developer: (1) uses widely adopted industry standards to determine the rating and specific content required by this section; and (2) applies those standards consistently and in good faith. (c) The developer of a software application is not liable for a violation of Section 121.054 if the software developer: (1) relied in good faith on age category and consent information received from the owner of an app store; and (2) otherwise complied with the requirements of this section. SUBCHAPTER D. ENFORCEMENT Sec. 121.101. DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICE. A violation of this chapter constitutes a deceptive trade practice in addition to the practices described by Subchapter E, Chapter 17, and is actionable under that subchapter. Sec. 121.102. CUMULATIVE REMEDIES. The remedies provided by this chapter are not exclusive and are in addition to any other action or remedy provided by law. SECTION 2. It is the intent of the legislature that every provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word in this Act, and every application of the provisions in this Act to every person, group of persons, or circumstances, is severable from each other. If any application of any provision in this Act to any person, group of persons, or circumstances is found by a court to be invalid for any reason, the remaining applications of that provision to all other persons and circumstances shall be severed and may not be affected. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026.
______________________________ ______________________________ President of the Senate Speaker of the House I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2420 passed the Senate on April 16, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1; and that the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 14, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1. ______________________________ Secretary of the Senate I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2420 passed the House, with amendments, on May 9, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 120, Nays 9, three present not voting. ______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House Approved: ______________________________ Date ______________________________ Governor
https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB2420/id/3237346Open linkView original on lemmy.world
The party of freedom and small government
Small Government to them is defined as not spending tax money to help people.
Not spending tax money to help poor people.
You are of course correct. My oversight.
We poors have to look out for each other; it's not like Texas is.
man I miss veep. one of the funniest shows Ive seen
And apparently the most accurate representation of the executive branch.
A truly open source (and functional) phone can't come fast enough.
And hopefully its mass adoption too.
GraphineOS will partner with a big manufacturer soon, then normies can switch over easier
Is Graphene not still Android?
It's basically android with all the spy ware stripped out and more privacy features, so not perfect but still significantly better than what we've got
This would kill grapheneOS. The pressures they face now vs once they partner with and depend upon a manufacturer are very different. This will devour them.
they already depend upon a manufacturer, as they require hardware security features only found in google pixels, which is a manufacturer that is even right now hostile to them
Lol. Remember OnePlus?
Good old days of cyanogen mod
I wish but no way. The masses want the shiny thing that gets them clout.
FSF announces librephone project
This will be just software, right? Not hardware/firmware?
At the moment it isn't even that. It's more the concept of an inventory of the landscape of a plan.
Attention developers: stop making apps. If you want profit, make a subscription to an account with a web app. Want to keep people happy? Subscription only charges them once. Bonus, the web app you write once works on everything, including those niche Linux phones.
Government moves to censor websites? Darknets aren’t just for criminals and conspiracy theorists anymore. Whitelist sites? We move to mesh networks like reticulum.
We nerds can move faster than a government can, especially this one.
Best thing about this is that moves like this totally destroy the profit-centric internet of today, flinging us back to a simpler, weirder, better classical internet we grew up with.
And for fuck sake make sure it works on Firefox!
Perplexity is built in to Firefox now. Fuck Firefox.
Adding an optional extra search engine isn't the end of the world.
They also have Google and Bing, which aren't nice either, yet nobody was doing this performative outrage over optional search engine inclusions before.
Reminder to all downvoters: firefox sells your data now. You should be using librefox at the very least.
I think you mean librewolf, unless there is also a librefox.
I really should pay more attention to firefox news. I'm not even sure what to do in the even mozilla implodes before a new non-chromimium browser actually becomes viable.
Fingers crossed for ladybird.
well i mean, so are some others like le chat. not like Firefox hadn't been trying to expand out of their browser.
Didn’t even Steve jobs envision iPhones just doing everything through web apps at first too
Nah, the app running functionality just wasn’t ready in time, so like the true marketing bro he was, he only wanted to project success and sold the thing he had working (web sites on a phone) as the best invention ever thought of ever. A year and a half later when the app making tools were finally ready, suddenly those were the greatest innovation ever thought of ever. All of a sudden in a span of less than 2 years from their introduction web apps were stupid and clunky and boomer.
I've been thinking for a while that web apps are the way to go. Screw native apps
Depends. Are you storing and consuming your data or someone else's?
Your data -> Native apps
Their data -> Web apps
You data hosted on your shit->still web apps
Spin up a container. Set up WireGuard. Done
I run everything I can on my phone, and lots of things on my PC, through web apps rather than stand-alone apps.
Oh, I actually switched from making mobile apps back to web apps a while ago.
Not because of Texas but because I am sick of Google and Apple dictatorship.
What about payments?
Did credit cards stop working on websites?
I should have been more direct - if a site accepts credit card payments then they are working with a payment processor that will absolutely 100% cooperate with the govt in choking off sites access to revenue. So to answer your question did cc’s stop working on websites - yes! on many that a govt has decided needs to be shut down, for legitimate or illegitimate reasons. Wikileaks donations being a famous example but if a site doesn’t comply with Texas you bet they can snap their fingers and all payment processors will jump from that site.
You’ve never bought anything online before apps?
See reply to another poster - I meant to point out that if governments move to censor sites the payment processors will move in lockstep to the govt in censoring payments.
Then people will pay with other means. There’s tons of crypto bullshit options out there to choose from.
Boom! Thats what I was going for. Lemmy seems so anti-crypto when it has real use cases like this. Even here stumbling into where it’s useful you call it bullshit, why?
Well there are risks when using crypto that traditional payment methods have safeguards for. Stealing a wallet ID, no chargeback options, scammers like using crypto because there’s basically no consumer protections in place, lots of these digital currencies are scams, it’s kind of a minefield.
All valid concerns. I’d argue all also manageable with some education, experience, and common sense.
I’m all about this but who and where? How do we organize?
We don’t. Thats the point. If you organize into a single group you are now a target that can be destroyed. Ask the black panthers.
Instead, share everything and help eachother. Stay decentralized.
But WEB3... Is your digital wallet ready?
I've got no clue about legal documents, especially how they work in Texas, but this seems weirdly broad and with a pretty glaring loophole.
The weirdly broad part:
This sounds like any website suddenly becomes an app store as soon as it starts distributing software for a mobile device. So (ignoring my following point), if I suddenly post my new APK on my personal site suddenly it's an app store!? Also aren't websites software applications? That'll be a fun one to fight out with browsers...
This sounds like it includes laptops but not desktop computers.
The glaring loophole:
So if your app store does not require an account, you do not need to verify anyone's age!? I'm all for it but that doesn't seem to be in the spirit of the law. F-droid and my (example) personal-site-turned-app-store rejoice!
Until Google kills them soon.
Feels like these things are lining up "coincidentally" huh?
All modern websites just serve JS applications now, so wouldn't this simply apply to the entire web?
That was my interpretation too, except not restricted to "modern" websites. It sounds more like any website, modern or not, JS or not.
The part that is funny in that situation is that probably means web browsers are considered "app stores". From a technical standpoint that's actually pretty accurate (though they also handle running the "app", unlike a regular app store), but has the fun consequence of making web browsers also "app store stores". Most browsers can be used without an account though, so I look forward to the dumb antics companies with large legal departments come up with for this one.
There was a time when we browsers just rendered hypertext, which is markup, not a program.
Many people disagree, though I'm not one of them.
Yes, many people have objectively false opinions.
Given the existence of handheld PCs, which just so happen to run the same OS as desktops and laptops, if handheld PCs are classed under the same category as Android and iOS devices, this has me worried that desktops and laptops will be ensnared in this as collateral damage too.
Windows has an app store. I doubt that was who they had in mind
It's optional for now except in S-mode, assuming MS isn't legally forced to enable S-mode by default and block 'sideloading' of downloaded exes in Texas.
that was much cleverer than the joke i thought i was teeing up.
I'm sure MS didn't think of that when abbreviating their executables as exes.
I think so. The intention is probably to have the law cover any method of getting your hands on an app, not just what we typically know as “app stores”. Otherwise, it would leave a loophole.
I thought that at first too, but I think the part at the end about “handheld electronic devices” is what limits it to not include laptops.
They do use handheld and never define it, but I can hold my laptop with my hand so I'm not sure that's necessarily a good way of disqualifying laptops. That also seems to strictly apply to the operating system ("runs an operating system designed [...] for software applications on handheld electronic devices"), which might be a fun legal quagmire as well since Linux is designed for all sorts of platforms. If I install Linux on my (formerly) Windows laptop does it suddenly become a mobile device?
It does bring up another interesting niche of computers: handheld PCs, especially handheld gaming PCs. Does this law apply to Steam Decks?
This whole thing screams "written by tech illiterates" since it seems to ignore regular computers and only focus on phones when it's all just variations of the same thing -- form factor and the software running on top isn't very relevant to whatever goal I presume they're trying to achieve. If they really want to collect everyone's ID, age, and other privacy-violating information they'd be better off doing it everywhere. But maybe I shouldn't give out advice for speed running fascism...
I demand this guy’s ID (& SSN just in case to protect the children against terrorism)
The broad definition for “app stores” was likely intended specifically to block loopholes where people just spin up their own sites and say “it’s just my website, not an app store.”
That would make sense, so it's not right. If you can't figure out what the government will do and one of the options makes sense, that's not what they will do
I guess Texas really isn't all about personal freedoms. Huh
These are people who define big government as "spending tax money to help people".
And then hold their hands out for their share when it comes time
it's never been... that is a dog whistle for "here you can be openly racist if you are white"
Not if your working class for sure.
🌎 🧑🚀 🔫 🧑🚀 Never have been.
So... conservatives hate China so much, yet copies exactly what China does? 🤔
Conservatives have taken up everything they claimed to hate 25 years ago. Go bomb dictators because the dictators are oppressive? Now they want their own dictator. Talk about how women and other segments of society in that country are oppressed? Now they oppress women and other minorities. Hate government spending? Proceed to piss money away at levels never seen before. Rail against government interference in private business? Proceed to meddle with and claim they will tell businesses how to behave. Etc. etc.
The difference now is that they have power. All that talk was what they said they'd do if they got power, but now that they're in, they're behaving just like they always have done, only worse.
You don't need an ID to download apps on your phone in China. The process is virtually identical to how we do it in the West.
It’s wild how almost every bad thing in China is worse in the US now.
You'd be surprised how many of these "bad things in China" are US propaganda. I guess those millions spent on misinformation are paying off.
I think the limit for me was the articles about forced repatriation, where China had snatch squads sent into other countries to force people to return, even when they had broken no laws recognized by that country. Oh, and the Uyghur genocides, which multiple global newspapers have reported on.
I will accept "US Bad". These days, any claim of a large empire being perfect should be treated with massive suspicion.
Weird... You don't have a .ml domain...
Makes one think: if I'm going to deal with the same level (or worse) of authoritarianism as China, I might as well at least get the lower cost of living and better ability to be car-free that China has.
/this is rhetorical, not actually considering a relocation to China
While that is technically true, do any of the “everything” apps have meaningful functionality without an account/ID?
It's projecting.
They are Christian nationalists and many of them want authoritarianism.
Bot
?
Freedom loving shitheads. The freedom to do as you are told. What a bunch of sheep.
“The slave who cannot organize his own revolt deserves no pity for his fate. He alone is responsible for his misfortune if he believes his master’s false promise of freedom. Freedom can be won only through struggle.”
Does the context make that better? As it stands that sounds like something Kanye would say.
XD omg how embarrassing... Kanye and Sankara sound the same lmao
Tread on me harder daddy
Apple and Google should just prevent their app stores from functioning in Texas. This crap is getting absurd. Cause a few riots from citizens when all their apps stop working, or it'll only get worse.
Ha ha, that's a good one! Fascism's enablers standing up to fascism.
There is precedent. Hitler was taken out by a pretty big fascism enabler
Also all the assassination attempts.
Same Apple and Google whose CEOs were standing behind the dictator during his inauguration this year?
Oligarchs want this. It has nothing to do with children.
Meanwhile: "Ooo! More data!"
Yes, on the one hand, this is a chilling precedent that can only lead to long term despair and national ruination. But on the other hand, line go up next quarter. I think we all know which one Tim Apple will choose.
Orwellian surveillance dystopia.
Even in China, where you're basically forced to login with mobile (+ otp verification) for almost every service, there's no such requirement for downloading apps from app stores
Would you need to in China? i genuinely don’t know if downloading apps is something that’s done through WeChat but, if so, the government’s got direct access anyway.
Yes the stores are filled to the brim with low effort mobile
gamesad viewersWhat I mean is I know that a lot of things done online in China are done with WeChat, including it being something that some apps run in. If the same is true for what’s being discussed here, then the Chinese government doesn’t need people to prove their ages first, because they already have that data.
WeChat seems to be invite-only, at least the last time I messed around with it.
You pretty much need to know someone to even sign up for a wechat account. Because supposedly, WeChat was infested with scammer accounts so this is one of the ways to minimize fraud, because you need an account in good standing to open another one, and if you do shady stuff, the investigators can just asked whoever invited you for your real identity. And of course, privacy intrusion is always one of the goals, anti-fraud is just one way to justify their policies.
I think it odd that Texas, a wealthy state, would attack the digital safety and privacy of its residents instead of addressing how power can cut out for days at a time or water boil advisories for its populations.
Anything but meeting the barest expectations of a “first” world country.
The US is 50 third world countries in a trench coat.
The free market is supposed to cover that. Texas is a libertarian wonderland in a way.
They're definitely doing things to address both of these? Making more grid connections with neighboring states. Approved $20 billion for water infrastructure over the summer.
Data brokers are allowed to buy data from the dark web after our data is hacked. I saw a 1 million fine I think?
App store owners will use this or that, which will get hacked, then our data will be bought up, and then it will be endlessly repackaged and moved around. That's why you can't remove your data using those scam services; the moment it's moved to another broker it's fair game again. You'll never scrub your data.
Your insurance will know what apps you installed. Walmart will know what apps you installed. Police bypass warrants by leasing this data from corporations like Flock. Just add it to the pile.
Even the government is bigger in Texas
Meanwhile, Google is fucking with sideloading. Coincidence?
I think Google is mainly aiming to comply with EU law. But Brussels effect...
It should give Europeans pause that their tech regulation is red state style. Explains why their tech industry is on a red state level.
I'm not aware of any EU law requiring an OS vendor to restrict how users install software. The DMA requires Google to collect certain information from developers using Google's store for distribution.
Yes. Like a copy of their identity papers.
Consult Article 23 ("Identification of economic operators") of the CRA. The entry into force fits Google's timeline.
That says when Google distributes an app via the Play Store, Google must be able to name the developer.
It does not say that when I distribute an app via my website, Google has any obligations whatsoever.
You're thinking of the DSA (Article 30), in force since last year. The CRA is on top (or beside) of that, starting in 2027. Some are also pointing the finger at the RED (Article 3 3.). That's the one that made Apple do USB chargers.
I expect phones are going to become a lot more locked down, especially in the EU.
Yes. Google is only demanding verification for certified phones.
What I quoted was CRA Article 23.
It clearly doesn't impose any obligations on an OS vendor with regard to app installation where the OS vendor isn't a party to the transaction.
You're arguing that a dev shouldn't be seen as supplying to Google just because their apps run on a Google system. I agree, that could be a valid argument, but I am not too sure if it would work in court.
Google is certainly following the spirit of the law. Maybe there is a tiny loophole here but imagine Google leaves that open. A few people install some shady app store full of malware and scams. Would a court find that Google had fulfilled all its legal obligations to protect its users?
Kids will grow up around the idea that there is no freedom and their superiors (e.i. the corrupt companies) have to decide their rights.
My dad, now passed, once said "I'm glad I won't have to live in the world you kids are growing up in" (or approximately those words). He was primarily referring to privacy and rights, which I think were being directed by Bush at that time.
I was young and privileged enough that I had noticed a few worrying governmental trends but didn't really feel myself affected, nor did I have much concern about the future. I now feel his words more impactfully.
(I know some of the prevailing sentiments on lemmy; I worry about our collective future but don't resent my dad for his part in bringing me into this world. He was a good dad who provided me with a good life and set me up to continue that after he was gone and, even if that weren't true, he couldn't have predicted the world we're in today.)
That's up to us.
I’m waiting for people my own age or older to insist to me it’s always been this way.
Well, children might get the idea that it’s okay to slingshot birds at pigs if they’re allowed to download apps!
Wooo-weee! I'm smellin' so much liberty! God loves 'Murica!
I could hear Morty screaming that wooo-weee, I really could.
Haha yeah, I heard it in Mr. Poopybutthole’s voice. A sentence I never thought I’d type.
VPNs have never been more powerful
I'm sure those will be illegal by the end of 2026
I mean, good luck. I've seen some noise about demanding VPNs be registered by individual. Even that's going to rub a lot of tech bros the wrong way, so don't hold your breath.
How would you even enforce this?
Exactly
The oligarchs use VPNs to make their corporations function. They won't be made illegal. Blanket banning all VPNs in America leads to an instant grinding halt of all commerce.
No no, illegal for CITIZENS to use. I'm sure they'll have a licensing requirement allowing their use for corporate entities of course.
Because this regime has never selectively enforced anything before….
I am sure you can rewrite it in some way.
"Software and services proxying traffic destined to public internet through another countries or states", perhaps.
But from the lack of brain matter I've seen so far they'll either:
a) Require blocking of ports 1194 and 51820
b) Manage to make routing illegal
If you didn't have anything to hide, why do you need a VPN? /S
sounds like quite a pain to google/apple, I think they should just ban them until they change their minds
If this was Lithuania or Rhode Island I’m pretty sure they would, but both Apple and Google have massive presences in Texas, thousands of employees and many offices. It would not go well for them to “ban” them and have their assets seized and employees arrested.
Why would anyone get arrested? There is no requirement for a business to operate in Texas or for people in Texas. And it is almost a certainty that Google and Apple have clauses saying they can not serve anyone for almost any reason.
A man can dream.....
Hard no for me if this comes where i live, which is not the USA. Libre Phone and self hosting/loading will be inevitable in such a scenario, as tinfoil as this can sound.
This will just become an excuse to jail you, then. "Unlicensed radio broadcast" or whatever is the equivalent. With those kinds of brutish, authoritarian regimes, anyone of intelligence is a threat that needs to be disappeared, and that includes you poindexter with OsmAnd~ installed on their phone.
You and me are allies. Imagine 100 000 allies like us two in a jail for such petty reasons. What do you think would happen in such a scenario?
Gulags full of free workers!
It has been done before.
We'll just wait to be picked up.
Or not.
Hell yea we are. Let's be real though, if we're in jail we're not doing shit. We have to stay out of jail to be effective.
How many people in your city know what self-hosting even is, though? Is it anywhere near hundreds or even tens of thousands? I'd be shocked if it was even 1000 in my city. I'm willing to bet every single person in this thread has technical skills that far exceed the average person.
WAAAAAY more than you're giving credit for
I think you'd be surprised. The average person has trouble remembering to check a device is plugged in when they're wondering why it won't turn on. People generally don't know what "hosting" means, let alone "self-hosting", it's far nerdier than you give us all credit for.
But if you live in a city of 300,000 people and 99% don't know about self-hosting you still have 3,000 people who do. Unite!
That's if it's as high as 1%, I'd argue it might be 0.1% or less. It is one of the nerdiest things.
One more step towards the great firewall.
Man, when they learn to read they’ll be pissed.
i dont live in texas, but ill probably be forced to use an alternative method for installing apps on my degoogled phone eventually.
fuck republicans.
Vanishing list of reasons to move there.
I had a group of friends that moved there from the Midwest in the 10s, and I hope they have the presence of mind to get the fuck out.
real
Gonna be a whole lot more people downloading apps from "California".
At least on Apple, that wouldn’t help; Native apps (like the App Store) have GPS and cellular location access. You’d need to spoof your GPS and cellular location, which is a lot harder than simply connecting to a different VPN server.
Lots of people found that out when they deleted TikTok during the “ban”. TikTok continued to function in the US, but it was removed from the App Store so you couldn’t re-download it after deleting it. And simply changing your VPN to an international server didn’t help, because the App Store was loading available apps based on your cell location.
At least on Android, spoofing GPS location is trivial (not that workarounds like this should be necessary).
Wonder how much a company could make providing a low-cost VPN whose sole purpose is to to make US residents appear to be from California XD
Remember that meme for windscribe VPN where they supposedly had a server located on Epstein Island because the feds can’t see anything that happens there?
Whatever happened to that? I know it was a joke but they already have the Antarctica server so why not run with this too?
This in combination with Google closing down the android ecosphere, kinda says a lot, no?
It says that my next phone will be a dumb feature flip phone.
Suddenly that's beginning to feel like an attractive idea again.
I'd say 'good luck forcing this on PCs,' but given handheld PCs would technically count as 'mobile devices,' doesn't this mean desktops and laptops will get ensnared in this as collateral damage too? Like, are you going to have to show ID just to download an exe in Windows or run a
sudo apt install (program)or equivalent command in Linux now? Assuming Windows non-S and Linux aren't banned and PCs aren't restricted to only running Windows S so you have to use a corporate app store on PCs in Texas like you do on Android or iOS devices?Also, given this law might effectively kill F-droid and other alt app stores, and Google themselves wanna kill F-droid and other alt app stores, I wonder if Google did some lobbying to get this passed.
I would say that I'm glad that I don't live in Texas but the state I live in has also been slowly following this Nazi rhetoric as well, so it's only a matter of time before we're effected as well.
And the „We told you so!“ crowd shrugs and sighs.
Wow! Dystopia.
Not long now until Texans gets assigned a mandatory tracking collar and a cage you have to return to spend your nights in.
This is not pro oligarchist app store. So can only be slavery anti-consumer extortion.
The thing is... side loading becomes more important, and paying less from apps by any other system becomes encouraged. No one likes this shit, but media ignoring actual fascism, doesn't mean it won't hit us/them.
Well that fucking sucks. Can someone explain how this will affect those on GrapheneOS? I'm assuming it'll only affect play store and proxy apps, e.g. aurora store. Any other way to get around this, or anything else I'm missing?
I expect VPN + Aurora (or any other non Play store) will be enough to get around it
Give me all your AI training data!
Lol dumbasses
Texas... The most free state.
In Texas, you say
Texas are gonna use this to find out who belongs to minorities they wanna target: Queers, Women, racial minorities.
Get a VPN.
How does a VPN help if you are entering your ID number?
You are not entering your ID if you are not in Texas...
It means you don't need to enter it. The OSA checks only come up if they think you're in the UK.
We could just... You know... Stop using smartphones
Another reason to boycott Texas.
Unclear if this would impact any app store that has no Texas or U.S. presence. Is Texas planning on blocking websites? It would be entertaining to see.
https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/SB2420/2025
It takes less than a year to lock things down.
So everyone's going back to using only a browser?