Re: What can't you do on Android WITHOUT a Google Account set up in the OS?

On 1/4/2025 7:24 AM, Siard wrote:

On Wed, 1 Jan 2025 02:08 -0000 (UTC), Andrew wrote:

What can't you do on Android WITHOUT a Google Account set up in the OS?

 Well, without a Google account I do not have access to paid apps.
There are a few important ones I can hardly do without.
 

   I expect that most people here don't care, but Wired currently has an
interesting article about Gravy Analytics. They were recently hacked,
some of the data went online, 404media investigated, and the result
is evidence of what we've all known, or should:
   Besides apps selling you out to dataminers, many, many apps leak
data through ad auctions. The Gravy data shows location tracking
(sold to both business and gov't) for cellphone users. Unsurprisingly,
the whole thing appears to be like a hundred crazed dogs fighting
over a corpse. The article points out that anyone can get into the
data market by simply bidding on ads. There's no need to bid high
enough to win the slot. One can get the personal info of the ad
target just by signing onto the auction. Crazy stuff.
https://www.wired.com/story/gravy-location-data-app-leak-rtb/
Among apps listed were Tinder, MSO365, Call of Duty.... Interestingly,
companies seem to have a stock response ready: "Don't look at us.
We don't do business with Gravy." But those companies have often
been caught spying in the past. And they do run ads. So there seems
to be a lot of plain, baldfaced lying going on. And why not? They don't
face punishment. The strategy of sweeping it under the rug has worked
well. So why offer a quotable quote and risk waking up the peasantry
who are happily using dating apps or counting their footsteps?