| > Google will allow firewalls, but not selective firewalls: ... These exceptions have been in place since before 2022. Discussion at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32637193 > Google has also removed/threatened to remove prominent firewall VPNs for bullshit reasons (claims that apps violate random policies) ... I co-develop one such open source "firewall app" for Android, and you're right that apps like ours have been previously removed for blocking ads out-of-the-box. But, removals also happen due to stricter rules/policies that apply to apps using VPN APIs. Note that, of late, many a popular apps ad-blocking out-of-the-box (like the DuckDuckGo browser with app tracking protection) haven't been removed. > Unless you own the kernel on every SoC running on your system (including the modem) I get your point but don't think even a rooted (supervisor) Kernel gets you much guarantee as there always could be a higher privileged hypervisor controlling it. > Apple's questionable privacy decisions are a lot less worse They've improved post Celebgate yeah, but the duality is such that... Apple is one of the largest buyers of user data aka "market intelligence" (per folks I know who work in this domain) that (presumably) these other shady apps collect. |