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www.androidauthority.com

  • Google is making it mandatory to have Play Services for its next-generation reCAPTCHA system on Android.

  • Your phone will need to be running Play Services version 25.41.30 or greater when the system asks you to scan a QR code for verification.

  • This hurdle means that de-Googled phones will fail the verification test by default.

  • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.netEnglish
    5·
    2 hours ago

    Oh, I thought they are talking about browsing on their phones.

    That still makes very little sense. What if someone has an iPhone? What if I am browsing on my phone? What if I don’t have my phone near me? This sounds like some optional, extreme case feature. Like when they are pretty much sure you’re a bot but the website optionally gives you last one chance to prove you’re not instead of just rejecting your request.

    • luciferofastora@feddit.orgEnglish
      2·
      51 minutes ago

      What if someone has an iPhone?

      Per https://support.google.com/recaptcha/answer/16609652

      Supported Environments for reCAPTCHA Mobile Verification:

      • Android Devices:

        • Google Play Services version 25.41.30 or greater.
        • To verify Google Play Services version on an Android device, open Settings > Apps > All Apps > Google Play Services

      • iOS/iPadOS devices for QR Code Scan:

        • Version 15.0 or greater.

      • iOS/iPadOS devices for “Click to Verify” Button:

        • Version 16.4 or greater.
        • Version 15.0-16.4 with the reCAPTCHA app installed.

      What if I am browsing on my phone?

      I’m not seeing anything related to that specifically, but I imagine a (supported) mobile browser will be able to interface with Play Services directly and not need a QR code challenge.

      If you use an unsupported browser, I think we can both guess what’s gonna happen. As for what browsers are supported:

      https://support.google.com/recaptcha/answer/6223828?hl=en&ref_topic=6188330&sjid=5375685544242031989-EU

      Browser requirements for reCAPTCHA

      We support the two most recent major versions of the following:

      • desktop (Windows, Linux, Mac) - Chrome - Firefox - Safari - Chromium Edge
      • mobile
        • Chrome
        • Safari
        • Android native browser

      Guess if you’re using Firefox mobile, you’re fucked - plz switch to Chrome, thank you and welcome to our digital prison saferoom!

      What if I don’t have my phone near me?

      You mean you don’t carry our surveillance device with you 23/7 (we’ll give you an hour for sleep)?

      I’m somehow reminded of that mobile Diablo announcement and the surprised response “Don’t you guys have phones?”

      This sounds like some optional, extreme case feature. Like when they are pretty much sure you’re a bot but the website optionally gives you last one chance to prove you’re not instead of just rejecting your request.

      The stated goal is to fight fraudulent agentic AI: “As we identify potentially fraudulent behavior from agents, we enable application providers to deter and mitigate malicious requests by requesting humans to be in the loop using the new QR code-based challenge.”

      https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/identity-security/introducing-google-cloud-fraud-defense-the-next-evolution-of-recaptcha/

      So they’d do this when they suspect the thing interacting with the page is not a human, but expects a human to be involved with the process. How exactly that “potentially fraudulent behavior” would be detected is a different question and I have absolutely zero faith that it will fulfill its mission dutifully and without collateral damage. But then, if you’re compliant with their requirements, that collateral damage is negligible. They made sure that the prison saferoom is really comfy.

      • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.netEnglish
        3·
        38 minutes ago

        Thanks for checking. That clarifies things a lot.

        I guess we’re fucked. reCaptcha is not used for visiting websites but for registering or submitting form. I can think of couple of cases where I’m required to complete captcha for online shopping or, ever worse, for work. Step by step they will force us all to either use approved devices or be locked out of big parts of the internet.

        This is of course thanks to all the people shitting on Firefox over the years and saying that Chrome is just better and that there’s nothing wrong with giving Google control over the web. So yeah, thanks.