Google's next-gen reCAPTCHA system could spell trouble for de-Googled phones
2026-05-07 19:57 UTC
Replies (40)
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@GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 2026-05-08 02:59
cool. guess I won’t be using any of the things that use it. 🤷 oh well.
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@eekrano@lemmy.world 2026-05-08 03:13
This requirement will kick in the moment the system suspects suspicious activity. At that point, reCAPTCHA will forgo the old image puzzles and require you to scan a QR code with your smartphone to prove you’re human. Although this will stop an autonomous bot in its tracks, it also adds another step to verification. But the problem runs a little deeper than the annoyance of a single additional step. I didn’t see what the spec of this new recaptcha is but my first thought is an android emulator and a free google account combined with whatever bot/LLM wants to pass through is probably going to be what happens.
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@LodeMike@lemmy.today 2026-05-07 23:03
What about the ~40% of Americans with an iPhone??
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@9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 2026-05-07 20:48
If you’re a web dev, and you implement this, just know you won’t receive my web traffic. Ill go live with the other robots and we will start our own internet with blackjack and hookers.
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@RedIce25@lemmy.world 2026-05-07 20:09
Then I’ll just not use the services that use it, very stupid, as this shouldn’t be necessary
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@zjti8eit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-05-07 23:21
So more Linux phones?
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@Zak@lemmy.world 2026-05-07 20:20
That means if Google’s verification system gets widely adopted, browsing the web could become a headache. Using a phone to scan a QR code in order to access a website on my desktop is a headache even if it has no dependencies in particular.
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@Wispy2891@lemmy.world 2026-05-08 04:14
This is awesome news for scammers: Fake page will say "you need to scan this qr code to verify you’re human" Users normally dismisses this shit, but it has become normal nowadays, take out the phone to scan it Qr code opens a page on totallynotascam.com that say "you need to install this totally safe APK on your device for verification 😉" APK passes the new useless developer “verification” as the scammer either used a hacked dev account or just paid $25 with a stolen id + stolen credit card User see the message “APK verified by Google play protect” and would totally believe the bullshit, giving all the possible permissions to the app
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@SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 2026-05-08 06:04
I think I will just install Ubuntu Touch on my phones in a few months. Feels like it’s just time to abandon ship.
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@WeLoveCastingSpellz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-05-08 06:15
Would this pass in EU? Seems anti competition. Do we need another movement like atok chat control to mobilize people?
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@thejml@sh.itjust.works 2026-05-07 20:15
Ignoring the de-Googled phones for a sec: I assume if you’re using a desktop, then the QR shows up and you have to drag out your phone to scan it in the camera app that then prompts to open the google play store. Dumb, but possible for people who have a phone with Android. What about those that don’t? Would you need a google account? Now if it’s all on phone (using Chrome or Firefox or whatever) and pops up a QR code, you can’t scan it… but the browser would have to open the play store directly and thats a huge security no-no. The browser shouldn’t even know I have the Play Store. I have a feeling the hundreds of us that are de-Googled ad just going to stop using these sites all together.
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@ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 2026-05-08 06:41
At that point, reCAPTCHA will forgo the old image puzzles and require you to scan a QR code with your smartphone to prove you’re human. What is that supposed to mean? What QR code? Just any? I’m supposed to find some QR code laying around and scan it? Or will the webpage display a QR and I’m supposed to scan it with my phone using a mirror or something?
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@A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 2026-05-08 03:58
Yeah, don’t use Google. We will dwell in an alternative Web and soon it really will be illegal…
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@Teknikal@anarchist.nexus 2026-05-07 21:44
I was thinking if it would be possible to to patch the version number to years in the future to try and stop the dodgy update. No clue if such a thing would work just idle thoughts really.
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@lemmyng@lemmy.world 2026-05-07 21:53
Gonna have to switch to Tor browsing completely then. How likely is this to affect Linux phones?
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@daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-05-08 09:23
What stops a bot to just run an android emulator to scan any prompted qr? This would only track if we read the small letter of the proposal. That this only work on android devices which have verified identify signed within their account. Meaning that android would require id verification, aka upload your id to google.
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@MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 2026-05-08 09:30
I won’t install an app to access a fucking website.
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@khanh@lemmy.zip 2026-05-08 09:47
A push to undermine our freedom of choice of ROMs, services, and providers.
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@Wispy2891@lemmy.world 2026-05-08 04:00
I would never scan a qr code to verify that I’m not a bot. I’d simply close the page
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@wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 2026-05-09 06:07
Fuck that. One of the biggest offenders of web scraping and bot traffic wants to force us all to install their spyware just to verify that we’re human when there have already been much simpler ways to do this without that bullshit captcha for years…
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@HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2026-05-08 22:30
There is a fucking huge market for non Google non iPhone come on somebody get the fuck on it
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@PierceTheBubble@lemmy.ml 2026-05-07 20:26
It turns out reCAPCHA has been a privacy nightmare from the beginning: from silently monitoring user activity in the background, to sending payment information to Google; in order for an AI to assess the data, and return a risk-score to the website. But that apparently wasn’t bold enough, and now an effective 2FA is required, which provides additional telemetry to Google (but not to the website or app: which is obviously the privacy concern). So get ready to 2FA with Google upon registration, login, updating your cart, and payment; or to skip the hassle, you should just let an approved “shopping assistant” make purchases for you (“that drive a projected 25% increase in average order value”). I don’t even own a modern Android or iOS device, so how am I supposed to solve these?
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@Superorbit@lemmy.ca 2026-05-08 11:24
Will forcing a page to desktop mode do anything?
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@phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2026-05-07 20:33
Once this is implemented, Google will have finally succeeded in closing the entire fucking internet. That is, assuming this will become anywhere successful and smaller websites will be using it as well.
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@diegantobass@lemmy.world 2026-05-07 20:01
Wtf
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@x00z@lemmy.world 2026-05-08 18:21
A lot of Android bot devices simulate (or even ARE) a full phone with a legit Play Store and other Google services. This requirement is enforced vendor lock in. Nothing more.
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@zerofk@lemmy.zip 2026-05-08 06:58
Wait wait wait. To prove you’re human you have to read something designed for computers to read?
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@Routhinator@startrek.website 2026-05-07 21:46
And any service that uses it can fuck off.
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@ennof@feddit.org 2026-05-07 23:35
"Google's next-gen reCAPTCHA system could spell trouble for any website that implements it as no de-Googled phone user will care to use it"
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@tristynalxander@mander.xyz 2026-05-08 23:03
I'm getting real tired of the escalating corporate-mediated fascism.
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@eager_eagle@lemmy.world 2026-05-07 22:08
This is evil. Fuck it. I want nothing to do with these cunts anymore. I'm degoogling this year.
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@phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2026-05-07 20:32
Monopoly, anybody? Naaaahhh, this is just good old fashioned American freedoms
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@MuteDog@lemmy.world 2026-05-08 15:44
> This requirement will kick in the moment the system suspects suspicious activity. At that point, reCAPTCHA will forgo the old image puzzles and require you to scan a QR code with your smartphone to prove you’re human. How is this going to work if you're browsing the internet on your phone??
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@Skankhunt420@sh.itjust.works 2026-05-08 12:12
I was wondering how they would screw the new Motorola phones coming out since they couldn't do the whole "factory operating system has been tampered with" mode of whining and being little bitches. Glad to see their engineers came up with another way to fuck us! Thanks google!
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@UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 2026-05-07 21:03
It SHOULD spell bad news for the people that use this verification method because it just means they lose those customers.
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@Gsus4@mander.xyz 2026-05-07 21:19
Time to degoogle for good, then.
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@tinfoilhat@lemmy.ml 2026-05-08 14:41
We need to move away from Google. Just make them obselete.
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@Ulrich@feddit.org 2026-05-07 20:33
Uhhhh. What if I'm not using a Google device? Is just the entire internet going to be gated behind Android?
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@bitjunkie@lemmy.world 2026-05-07 20:29
Then I will de-whatever else uses their shit
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@ryan_@piefed.social 2026-05-08 03:57
Surely this would be nearly impossible for visually impaired people, which makes me question the ability for governments to implement this on their websites. I know about screen reader software for visual impairment, but to expect a blind person use a separate device with a camera to take a “photo” of a QR code on another screen is beyond comprehension. Well, at least it would be in the normal timeline. I guess I’ll have to switch to a dumb phone out of spite now.