alt Hacker NewsWhat happens if you "accidentally" become persona non grata with both Google and Apple?
If you want to participate in the society, you will forever have to resort to shady tactics. Shady can be defined something as arbitrary as using GrapheneOS.
A temporary workaround like using alternatives like GrapheneOS for those affected will only delay the inevitable but it doesn't stop it at all.
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It's a great question to send to the DMA authorities: https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/contact-dma-team_en
More of us ask this question, the better we are heard. Except if this is exactly what they want, then we need to vote better.
At least we dont have a social credit system... hey wait a minute
It's terrifying, yeah.
To some degree, the closest we have to these situations besides getting flagged with TOS violations (whether real or false-flagged) in these companies are residents of countries that are either trade or economically sanctioned by the USA.
Thankfully we haven't seen something like an account ban and deletion incident for such cases, but the severe ones I can remember usually prohibit access entirely and that'd be scary if it extended to primary services that others rely on for auth.
You will be effectively locked out to services if it's all that's linked and that identity provider just decided you'd be persona non grata.
iOS can be used without an account. iPhones can be acquired outside of Apple. The EU has the alternative App Store option that doesn’t require an Apple account.
Over the long term, we definitely need something like Linux phones. I find it bizzarre by how little companies support this mission of Linux phones.
GrapheneOS is not shady at all, since when is wanting to use an actually secure OS that doesn't sell your data to palantir or some other ACTUALLY shady shit like that shady?
"If you had learned to wash lettuce, you wouldn't have had to pay court to Dionysius" - Diogenes.
> What happens if you "accidentally" become persona non grata with both Google and Apple?
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/feb/18/international-cr...
The US made a Canadian judge a persona non grata for any firm domiciled in the US. All because she works for the ICC, and the ICC declared Netanyahu a war criminal (which is indisputible). Why is the US destroying worldwide trust in US businesses on behalf of a reviled nuclear armed hermit nation on the other side of the planet? Good question, but it is what it is.
This example that the US will spuriously use sanctions like this is why many nations are investigating ways to purge American financial systems and tech.
You are right - now greedy corporations decide who is an "acceptable" human and who is perma-banned.
Governments need to wake up to this insane level of Evil. And other governments also need the US government responsible here, since they allow this to happen.
In objective terms this can be called a fascist system.
> A temporary workaround like using alternatives like GrapheneOS
The issue still is that so many services and functionalities are tied into private companies. States simply need to wake up now.
If you've accidentally become a persona non grata, then obviously because you've not exercised sufficient self-censorship.
This is real already. Recently saw a petition for EU to rein in big tech (there are several initiatives advocating this). Had this nagging voice at the back of my head ... what if signing that gets your Google Account terminated.
I'll leave it open to you whether I signed it.
For developers relying on any type of Google services, you'd be in for lots of pain.