1. United States
2. Ga.
3. Letter

Oppose Google's new policy requiring all Android developers to register centrally with Google before distributing apps outside the Play Store. This policy is set to take effect worldwide in the coming months, and it would hand a single corporation the power to approve or kill any Android app across every distribution channel, including websites, third-party stores, and direct transfers where Google has no legitimate role. Android already has real security infrastructure: OS-level sandboxing, permission systems, user warnings for sideloaded apps, developer signing certificates, and Google Play Protect. Seventeen years of Android's existence have produced no evidence these safeguards are insufficient. The registration requirement forces developers to submit government-issued ID, pay fees, and agree to Google's terms just to distribute software they wrote. That is not a security measure. It is a gatekeeping mechanism that mirrors Apple's closed ecosystem while stripping away the openness that made Android critical infrastructure for billions of people worldwide. The policy creates a comprehensive database of every Android developer, including activists, researchers, humanitarian organizations, and privacy-focused developers, giving Google competitive intelligence on the entire ecosystem and exposing sensitive individuals to potential government data requests. Legislators and regulators in the EU, the U.S., and elsewhere are already scrutinizing dominant platforms for exactly this kind of overreach. I ask that elected officials and regulators make clear to Google that consolidating software approval power into one unaccountable corporation is incompatible with free speech, open software, and fair competition.