So an interesting intellectual exercise is to try to figure out how you would create a power user toggle that is coercion resistant. The best I've been able to come up with is a timed lockout that is random in how long it takes to allow you to finally move into power user mode. So like a random value between 1 hour and 24 hours and you say I want to be a power user and then it says you have to wait 3 hours and 27 minutes before you can become a power user. Randomness because a scammer could optimize around a particular time period that was predictable.
Other thoughts on how you could make a coercion resistant power user toggle? I'm very excited that Google's thinking about offering this because it gives me faith that just because I chose to be in a minority, I won't be relegated.
On the flip side, I was so shaken by the original announcement that would kill off F-Droid that I've been very actively looking into building my own mobile device that runs Linux. I purchased the components for a Hackberry Pi that I'm hoping to build in the next couple of months, but knowing that Android won't kill off F-Droid entirely is heartening.
That could be done by requiring the use of ADB. Normal users would found it troublesome to setup a phone through command line.
To make it even harder, they could also require a verification code from your phone manufacturer, or the package of your device, which makes it impossible to automate the switch into power-user mode.
Other thoughts on how you could make a coercion resistant power user toggle? I'm very excited that Google's thinking about offering this because it gives me faith that just because I chose to be in a minority, I won't be relegated.
On the flip side, I was so shaken by the original announcement that would kill off F-Droid that I've been very actively looking into building my own mobile device that runs Linux. I purchased the components for a Hackberry Pi that I'm hoping to build in the next couple of months, but knowing that Android won't kill off F-Droid entirely is heartening.