Google is locking down Android, and needs to be stopped

I’ve recently added a banner to the top of my site with a countdown until September 1st, 2026–it’s on the main site, so if you only visit the blog, you probably haven’t seen it. This is the date on which Google will roll out a change that they’ve been talking about for some time now, initially in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, but soon after will move to the rest of the world. This change, called the Developer Verification program, will require that all Android developers become “verified,” and doing that requires proving your identity using your legal name, address, phone number, and in some cases an official government ID. Notice that I said all Android developers, and not all Google Play developers. This is because this verification process and its checks will be embedded at the system level in Android, and will be required to load any apps on an Android phone. In fact, I’d argue that the verification process for developers on Google Play is somewhat trivial, as…