Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

Journalist Discovers Google Vulnerability That Allowed People to Disappear Specific Pages From Search

🔗https://www.404media.co/journalist-discovers-google-vulnerability-that-allowed-people-to-disappear-specific-pages-from-search/

Europe has a unicorn obsession, and frankly it needs to stop. 🦄

The EU is pouring €43 billion through the CHIPS act into creating "European champions," but we're missing the bigger picture: why are we treating essential tech infrastructure as private property instead of public commons?

We need a different approach. One that serves public benefit over private extraction. Read my thoughts here: https://tarakiyee.com/the-hardware-innovation-monopoly-problem-why-europe-should-stop-chasing-unicorns/

#OpenHardware #TechPolicy #DigitalSovereignty #PublicInterestTech

“#Economics today resembles Catholic theology in medieval Europe: a rigid doctrine guarded by a modern priesthood who claim to possess the sole truth. Dissenters are shunned. Non-economists are told to “think like an economist” or not think at all… It’s indoctrination.’ https://on.ft.com/4o3TSGf

📣 Is "disable" the same as "uninstall"? We do not believe it. Google does.

Under the DMA, the FSFE with a coalition of civil-society organisations prompts the @EUCommission to open proceedings to investigate Alphabet's (#Google) regarding the uninstallation of pre-installed apps in Android.

Uninstalling is completely removing the app, not just disabling it! This is key for #DeviceNeutrality!

📎 https://edri.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Joint-DMA-complaint-Alphabet-for-publication.pdf

#SoftwareFreedom #DMA

It felt like kindergarten to do it but this week we @edri +others filed a complaint against #Google with the @EUCommission for breach of the #DigitalMarketsAct.

Despite the #DMA's clear obligation for #gatekeepers to allow you to uninstall pre-installed apps, #Alphabet claims this can also mean disabling. Yes seriously.

So we wrote a 7-page explanation why disable ≠ uninstall.

The complaint was filed together with @article19, @fsfe, @Freiheitsrechte, @HomoDigitalisGR and @vrijschrift 🙏

"Hey Google, what is Android?"

* "Android is... quarterly source-code over the wall called AOSP"
* "Android is... not GMS or Play Integrity"
* "Android is... not the device trees or driver binaries of Pixel phones"
* "Android is... not part of the monthly security reports"

And today, we discover, "Android is... not `system-images;android-36;default`" per https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/432143095

The F in #FDroid stands for "freedom", but there's no "F" in Android... nor any promises.

2/2

The #EU #DMA compliance workshops exist to regulate gatekeepers powers, yet both #Apple and #Google treat them like "product launches" where non-engineers show slides and can never answer questions.

The Android play-field, instead of taking steps to respect the DMA, Google shrinks what Android even is. If Apple can own its closed iOS, Google figured they can privatize Android?

Maybe it being #FOSS for 17 years was just a glitch and now Android is out of the famous Google betas?

1/2

Proud to be able to support the excellent #DSA complaint drafted by @aiforensics_org against the illegal use of personal data by #X to target people with #SurveillanceAds.

https://eupolicy.social/@edri/114862312731261161

#DigitalServicesAct #TrackingFreeAds #privacy

In case you missed it: Last week we released a new interview with Sovereign Tech Fellow @hugovk.

Hugo is a leading voice in the Python community. The projects he maintains are downloaded over 280 million times a month, including libraries used in NASA missions. The interview shows how Hugo's passion for contributions has developed into future-proofing the entire Python ecosystem.

🗞️ Read the interview: https://www.sovereign.tech/news/meet-hugo-van-kemenade

#MaintainerSpotlight

Well my employer has decided to partner with Palantir, which means it's time for me to find a new job. I was a lot more willing to make 40% less than market rate when I knew my employer wasn't funding concentration camps because they want AI coding tools.

Anyway of you need a UX designer/researcher who knows his way around government regulations, healthcare, enterprise software I'm looking!

@fdroidorg removing f-droid repo and adding it back also seems to work 🌈

So, the #Austrian Parliament ignores all expert opinion and ratifies a law to allow #statetrojan #spyware to be bought and used, making the whole population less safe while spending tax money on (non-EU) malware instead of more actual police forces. #Karner has won - at least until #VfGh nullifies it (again) - in getting his legal illusion past the Parliament, even though it can't be technically implemented as written in the law.

https://orf.at/stories/3399187/

> Nach jahrelanger Diskussion ist die Messengerüberwachung am Mittwoch vom Nationalrat ermöglicht worden. Widerstand gab es nicht nur von FPÖ und Grünen, sondern auch innerhalb der Koalition von NEOS-Abgeordneten. Mit der Vorlage wird es dem Staatsschutz künftig möglich sein, unverschlüsselte und verschlüsselte Nachrichten bei Diensten wie WhatsApp und Signal auszulesen.

To all developers of #FOSS:

I'm interested in your experiences and opinions of funding #FOSS. How to maintain freedom and secure financial stability.

Which strategies work, which don't? Like: grants from public institutions, donations from companies, donations from users, subscription models, ad revenue, sponsors, etc. etc.
What are your experiences with those strategies?

And: Do you think an anonymous payment system like #GNUTaler, along with its anonymous subscription service capabilities, could be helpful and to what degree?

What other ideas do you have?

I'm looking forward to answers, comments and shares!