Comment by BizarroLand

Here is a sample email template you can use to send to your congressperson if that is helpful:

Dear <Congressperson>,

I am writing to you out of deep concern regarding Google’s recent decision to require all Android developers worldwide to register directly with Google by providing personal government identification and other sensitive details as a condition for distributing their applications. While this policy may appear to be framed as a security measure, its consequences would be far-reaching and detrimental to digital freedom, competition, and privacy.

For over a decade, the F-Droid project has demonstrated that safe, secure, and privacy-respecting app distribution is possible without central corporate gatekeeping. F-Droid and similar open-source platforms provide verifiable builds, transparent review processes, and applications free of hidden trackers or predatory monetization schemes. By contrast, Google Play has repeatedly hosted malicious apps, showing that centralization is not the same as security.

The new registration decree effectively forces independent developers to surrender their personal identities to Google, erecting unnecessary barriers to participation in the software ecosystem. Worse, it would prevent alternative app stores like F-Droid from continuing to operate, depriving millions of users of trusted open-source applications and their ability to freely choose how they use their own devices.

This is not only a matter of consumer choice, but of civil liberties. Forcing creators to register their identities with a single corporate gatekeeper in order to distribute software is analogous to requiring authors or artists to register with a private company in order to publish their works. It strikes at the heart of free expression and innovation.

I respectfully urge you to take action to prevent this consolidation of control. Whether through competition oversight, digital rights protections, or support for open-source distribution, Congress has a role to play in ensuring that security justifications are not abused to restrict user freedom and entrench monopolistic power.

Please help preserve a healthy, competitive ecosystem where developers can create freely and users can choose openly — without unnecessary corporate barriers.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter, and for your continued service to our district and the nation.

Respectfully,

-<Your name>