SFC signs open letter to Keep Android Open

[Software Freedom Conservancy]

		SFC signs open letter to Keep Android Open

URL: https://sfconservancy.org/news/2026/feb/24/keep-android-open/

Social media:
  https://social.sfconservancy.org/notice/B3elK42PW6wWE54JDU

Today Software Freedom Conservancy joins many other organizations in
signing an open letter to Google [0] asking that Android continue to
allow people to install what they want on their phones. Recent policy
changes within Google will restrict installation options by requiring
developers to register their legal names, adding new gatekeeping that
can arbitrarily deny app installation or delete existing apps from your
phone. F-Droid has already written [1] about the importance of this
change. This invasion of privacy of developers is not just an overreach
of Google's authority over Android, but also jeopardizes developer
safety and restricts user freedom. Google has said “sideloading is not
going away”, but even the framing of "sideloading" pushes user and
developer freedom to the sidelines and classically masks a removal of
freedom for vague measures of safety.

Free and open source software (and the ability to install it!) was vital
for the proliferation of Android. A reversal of such a critical piece of
the policy that allowed user freedom and software openness would be
disastrous for users and the FOSS community at large. There is obviously
pressure from big tech companies to restrict installation options on
their locked down hardware. We see this not only in the mobile space,
but increasingly on desktops where both Apple and Microsoft have made it
harder to install free software; refusing to allow distribution outside
of their app stores, or showing vague warnings about security when
software isn't signed in their preferred gatekeeping ways. Allowing
installation of free software is absolutely necessary to ensure freedom
to keep our devices running, protecting user and developer privacy, and
keeping an open market of innovation.

We urge you to speak up about this issue, because this is just the most
recent decision by large corporations to restrict the control we have
over our own devices. If you are a part of an organization outside of
the ones who have already signed, we urge you to sign on and let our
collective voices be heard. Software is not created to be shepherded by
proprietary app stores; software is meant to be shared and worked on
together for the betterment of humanity.

[0] https://keepandroidopen.org/open-letter/
[1] https://f-droid.org/2026/02/24/open-letter-opposing-developer-verification.html