GrapheneOS user reported to authorities for using GrapheneOS

Cider9986 438 points 454 comments June 06, 2026
discuss.grapheneos.org · View on Hacker News

Discussion Highlights (20 comments)

iugtmkbdfil834

UK now, but that train is never late..

microflash

Might as well report all users of internet to authorities for using internet because internet can also be used to commit fraud.

VariousPrograms

I'm done for once the authorities know I have an account on HACKER News.

gib444

I would take "automatically reported to the authorities" with a pinch of salt (in this sphere, "nudging" people with lies is de rigueur [0]). Not that I'm arguing the UK isn't accelerating further into an authoritarian nightmare. [0] Kinda related https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioural_Insights_Team

Lucasoato

A friend of mine told me that Yoti is used as an age verification system in so many porn websites. That’s such an issue, this information should never be owned by private companies.

trumpdong

I guess this user gets to sue Sony for a full refund.

userbinator

If anything, from an age-verification perspective those using GrapheneOS are probably more likely to be adults, mentally mature, or otherwise smarter than the average sheeple.

throwfaraway135

- Heavy censorship - Two-tier justice system - This How did it come to this? The UK is arguably the country that has done the most for the cause of freedom, having led the way in abolishing slavery.

uni_baconcat

This is not how authorities work. They need to prove people guilty, not flag all “suspicious activity” then let people prove they are innocent.

pogue

Someone in the comments of that post linked to a long FAQ section for GrapheneOS about how apps can identify it and so forth [1]. I don't understand why it doesn't just attempt to spoof that's it's stock Android/Google everywhere it possibly can? [1] https://grapheneos.org/faq#:~:text=Apps%20can%20detect%20tha...

antiloper

OI mate, you got a loicense for that operating system? The only surprising thing about this story is that the user didn't get a visit by the police to be charged with a "non-crime cybersecurity incident". The UK has become such a shithole.

JdeBP

That response looks like it is generated from boilerplate, so the 'reported to the authorities' part is as likely true as when sudo says the same thing. * https://postimg.cc/3kVXKzhk

asdfsa32

A new age of piracy is ahead of us. When they come crying about "revenue", these days will be remembered.

gaiagraphia

It's really scary how society is being 'nudged' into using 'authorised devices' to participate in society (which we have to pay for, lol). I wonder if some ideology which believes in tech freedom will become the communism of the next age, and prompt a new wave of 'democracy' purity crusades.

elric

Any insights on what Yoti is or what might motivate them to take those moronic actions?

zx8080

It's so surprising that despute so many screams "China" in western media in the last 15 years, it happens in the west, but in China it's free to use any OS without any negative consequences. Why? What's going on?

shevy-java

People often critisize the USA - rightfully so, now as the orange king and his cronies rule over it - but the UK is in some ways worse. One of the best things that happened in the last years was BREXIT; that way the craziness from the UK can no longer taint other Europeans. And that's actually a good thing. Age sniffing is done for appeasement to corporate overlords; people should not buy into the propaganda that this is "to protect the kids". It is so obvious at this point in time - the amount of money spent by lobbyists must be insane, and the UK is the easiest to fall victim here, even before the USA. Evil companies such as Yoti need to be disbanded at once - either by the state, or by the people if the state has already been bribed into obedient submission to private, particular interests.

sunaookami

Seems like this company got fined recently for breaching GDPR: https://www.ictrecht.nl/en/blog/leeftijdsverificatie-online-... >The Spanish privacy regulator (hereinafter: AEPD) recently imposed a fine of €950,000 on age verification service YOTI >For the unlawful processing of biometric personal data in violation of Article 9 of the GDPR, YOTI was fined €500,000. In addition, a fine of €200,000 was imposed for obtaining invalid consent in violation of Article 7 of the GDPR. Finally, the company was fined €250,000 for exceeding retention periods in violation of Article 5 of the GDPR

dwedge

This is totally unacceptable. But going to the hassle of running GrapheneOS and then using it to try and submit facial scans to combine your identity with your PSN account just seems so pointless.

Mangochutney27

And now he's going to jail for using an alternative os or what?

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