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Re:Google details new 24-hour process to sideload unverified... by 2OEH8eoCRo0 on Thursday March 19, 2026 @02:47PM (#47444010)
I don't see that on the page
Re:Google details new 24-hour process to sideload unverified... by janice1999 on Thursday March 19, 2026 @02:50PM (#47444063)
They already announced it. Here they only mention the special case where it does not apply:

> In addition to the advanced flow we’re building free, limited distribution accounts for students and hobbyists. This allows you to share apps with a small group (up to 20 devices) without needing to provide a government-issued ID or pay a registration fee.

i.e. Government-issued ID and fees are needed for more than 20 devices, e,g, every app on F-Droid

Re:Google details new 24-hour process to sideload unverified... by Evidlo on Thursday March 19, 2026 @04:33PM (#47445608)
Isn't this a huge loophole? Couldn't a scammer just make many variants of their malware?
Re:Google details new 24-hour process to sideload unverified... by Aachen on Thursday March 19, 2026 @07:27PM (#47447928)
If there were a reliable way of identifying people making multiple accounts, it wouldn't be anonymous now would it? This not a loophole but inherent to an anonymous system

The trouble is, the accounts aren't meant to be anonymous. Pseudonymous at best, depending also on the country (a lot of places require government ID before you can assign a phone number, or have a central government querying system for mapping IP addresses and timestamp to the name and address of the subscriber that used it at the time). It's not like they let you create infinite Google accounts without supplying an infinite amount of fresh phone numbers or IP addresses. You also agree to the general Google privacy policy, which allows them to do anything for any purpose last I checked (a few years ago) unless you're a business customer (but then you've got a payment method in use, and they don't accept cash in the mail), such as fingerprinting as part of reCaptcha

Re:Google details new 24-hour process to sideload unverified... by ai-inquisitor on Thursday March 19, 2026 @03:03PM (#47444264)
Enforcement of the device restriction would also mean they also are collecting information from your device about the app.
Re:Google details new 24-hour process to sideload unverified... by codethief on Thursday March 19, 2026 @02:52PM (#47444086)
https://developer.android.com/developer-verification

Note that the OP is about side loading, i.e. installing apps from non-Play Store sources and thereby circumventing developer verification.