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Google's next-gen reCAPTCHA system could spell trouble for de-Googled phones
(www.androidauthority.com)
this post was submitted on 07 May 2026
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What is that supposed to mean? What QR code? Just any? I'm supposed to find some QR code laying around and scan it? Or will the webpage display a QR and I'm supposed to scan it with my phone using a mirror or something?
The example image I saw was of a page opened on a laptop, which prompted you to scan with a phone. If you don't have a (compatible) phone, I'm curious how that would go.
Oh, I thought they are talking about browsing on their phones.
That still makes very little sense. What if someone has an iPhone? What if I am browsing on my phone? What if I don't have my phone near me? This sounds like some optional, extreme case feature. Like when they are pretty much sure you're a bot but the website optionally gives you last one chance to prove you're not instead of just rejecting your request.
Per https://support.google.com/recaptcha/answer/16609652
I'm not seeing anything related to that specifically, but I imagine a (supported) mobile browser will be able to interface with Play Services directly and not need a QR code challenge.
If you use an unsupported browser, I think we can both guess what's gonna happen. As for what browsers are supported:
https://support.google.com/recaptcha/answer/6223828?hl=en&ref_topic=6188330&sjid=5375685544242031989-EU
Guess if you're using Firefox mobile, you're fucked - plz switch to Chrome, thank you and welcome to our digital ~~prison~~ saferoom!
You mean you don't carry our surveillance device with you 23/7 (we'll give you an hour for sleep)?
I'm somehow reminded of that mobile Diablo announcement and the surprised response "Don't you guys have phones?"
The stated goal is to fight fraudulent agentic AI: "As we identify potentially fraudulent behavior from agents, we enable application providers to deter and mitigate malicious requests by requesting humans to be in the loop using the new QR code-based challenge."
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/identity-security/introducing-google-cloud-fraud-defense-the-next-evolution-of-recaptcha/
So they'd do this when they suspect the thing interacting with the page is not a human, but expects a human to be involved with the process. How exactly that "potentially fraudulent behavior" would be detected is a different question and I have absolutely zero faith that it will fulfill its mission dutifully and without collateral damage. But then, if you're compliant with their requirements, that collateral damage is negligible. They made sure that the ~~prison~~ saferoom is really comfy.
Thanks for checking. That clarifies things a lot.
I guess we're fucked. reCaptcha is not used for visiting websites but for registering or submitting form. I can think of couple of cases where I'm required to complete captcha for online shopping or, ever worse, for work. Step by step they will force us all to either use approved devices or be locked out of big parts of the internet.
This is of course thanks to all the people shitting on Firefox over the years and saying that Chrome is just better and that there's nothing wrong with giving Google control over the web. So yeah, thanks.
I had unsolvable captcha for Github once. Fuck ne, I guess. I just wanted to contribute something, but whatever.
To quote a song about a "Fairytale of Doom":
I try to stay optimistic that this won't be tenable. Giving in to despair makes it harder to muster the will to resist. But I won't deny it's getting tougher.
They'll mail you one. Can't use the Internet without a physical interface. Don't worry though, you won't need a CD ROM for this one.