I deactivated Google Play on my phone.
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To my pleasant surprise, I got a nice and considered response. Paraphrased: They appreciated my feedback as a customer and user of their digital solutions. And they have passed my point about ’a growing focus on alternatives to profit-driven IT solutions’ further up the line internally so that the right department is aware of the trend and requests like mine from customers.
Fair play to Norlys for not just sending a standard or dismissive response.
@CiaraNi And thank you to you for taking the time to write to them and explaining things in a nice way. I find that really hard to do.
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I don’t think I would have got that response if I hadn’t been able to link to the DanmarkSkifter campaign site. That showed there really is a grassroots movement and that people are actually making the switch away from BigTech.
Tak and thank you to everyone at #DanmarkSkifter for giving us a way to talk about the need for change and the tools to actually make the changes.
I don't know if other countries have an equivalent to the 'Denmark Switches' campaign. I hope so. It's a great initiative.
There is Digital Independence Day in Germany, also called DI.DAY. From December 2025:
https://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2025/ccc-unterstutzt-den-monatlichen-digital-independence-day
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@CiaraNi the absurdity (and possibly illegality) of the situation means that if i want integrity i’ll need a separate cheap/old phone for stuff like that I keep at home, possibly in a faraday cage. And I can’t charge them for the added cost
@Kierkegaanks As it happens, I knew from my DuckDuckGo app-tracking blocker that their app was the supreme worst one on my phone for trying to track data. So deleting it was quite a pleasure. Being the leccy company, I can't just stop being their customer. I've gone back to logging on to their website now to see my consumption, bill status etc. There were a few useful features on the app that aren't in the browser version, but that's just an inconvenience, nothing worse.
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@CiaraNi And thank you to you for taking the time to write to them and explaining things in a nice way. I find that really hard to do.
@liebach Tak! I have had a far less nice exchange with a bank about their appalling use of AI in customer service. Their first response was so dismissive that that my next reply was Very Snippy. I am waiting for the flames that are still pouring out of my ears to die down before I bore the Fediverse with that story
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There is Digital Independence Day in Germany, also called DI.DAY. From December 2025:
https://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2025/ccc-unterstutzt-den-monatlichen-digital-independence-day
@mjack Oh that's right! I have heard about that. A great initiative too. Thanks for the reminder.
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S suneauken@mastodon.world shared this topic
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There is Digital Independence Day in Germany, also called DI.DAY. From December 2025:
https://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2025/ccc-unterstutzt-den-monatlichen-digital-independence-day
@mjack @CiaraNi ironic that the .day domain (like .dev) is owned by Google... tells a lot about how hard it really is to break free from big tech https://blog.google/company-news/outreach-and-initiatives/entrepreneurs/today-dotday/
(also great initiative, seems like listing Danish events there would be a very quick and convenient way to join/connect the dots on the map)
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
@CiaraNi Of curiosity, what is the Norlys app doing that a website couldn't do?
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@agturcz @CiaraNi that's awesome, I hope the electricity company does something with your request.
We don't have a similar campaign in the Netherlands, but we do have a similar problem. I'd love to get a Fairphone or any linux based phone with an alternative app store like @fdroidorg , but then my banking apps wouldn't work anymore. Same with DigiD (gov auth).
It would be great if gov and companies offered their apps in non-proprietary app stores. Maybe we need a campaign too @bo
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@CiaraNi Of curiosity, what is the Norlys app doing that a website couldn't do?
@oldrup I app'en kunne jeg se dagens, ugens, månedens forbrug vist som kWh og Kr. Man kan selv vælge, hvilken var fremhævet, men begge er synlige ved ét blik. På websiten, kan jeg kun se forbrug i kWh. Eller hvis 'Kr.' er der, har jeg ikke fundet den endnu.
Websiden viser ikke time-for-time pris på samme overskuelig måde. Og de har fjernet Brugernavn+adgangskode login. Nu er det kun med mitID. Jeg har kodeviser, som ligger derhjemme. Nu kan jeg ikke længere se min data bare når det passer mig.
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To my pleasant surprise, I got a nice and considered response. Paraphrased: They appreciated my feedback as a customer and user of their digital solutions. And they have passed my point about ’a growing focus on alternatives to profit-driven IT solutions’ further up the line internally so that the right department is aware of the trend and requests like mine from customers.
Fair play to Norlys for not just sending a standard or dismissive response.
@CiaraNi was the response signed by someone with "RH" for initials?
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@mjack @CiaraNi ironic that the .day domain (like .dev) is owned by Google... tells a lot about how hard it really is to break free from big tech https://blog.google/company-news/outreach-and-initiatives/entrepreneurs/today-dotday/
(also great initiative, seems like listing Danish events there would be a very quick and convenient way to join/connect the dots on the map)
@benjaoming @mjack I am a fan of Almost Perfect and Almost Activism in these kinds of cases. Better to make some moves, to do something, even if there are impurities, like a Google-owned domain. 'Almost' is good. As you say - it's hard to break really free, and certainly not in one go.
I like the idea of connecting the dots on the map, the different digital independence campaigns in cross-border solidarity. That's a great suggestion.
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@agturcz @CiaraNi that's awesome, I hope the electricity company does something with your request.
We don't have a similar campaign in the Netherlands, but we do have a similar problem. I'd love to get a Fairphone or any linux based phone with an alternative app store like @fdroidorg , but then my banking apps wouldn't work anymore. Same with DigiD (gov auth).
It would be great if gov and companies offered their apps in non-proprietary app stores. Maybe we need a campaign too @bo
@Gina @CiaraNi @fdroidorg @bo At least a place, which could be a central point of information. What we want? Why we want it? What are the benefits? And a news stream (with RSS!) with anything worth coverage regarding the matter. Create a pressure. If anything like that would happen, please keep me informed
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@oldrup I app'en kunne jeg se dagens, ugens, månedens forbrug vist som kWh og Kr. Man kan selv vælge, hvilken var fremhævet, men begge er synlige ved ét blik. På websiten, kan jeg kun se forbrug i kWh. Eller hvis 'Kr.' er der, har jeg ikke fundet den endnu.
Websiden viser ikke time-for-time pris på samme overskuelig måde. Og de har fjernet Brugernavn+adgangskode login. Nu er det kun med mitID. Jeg har kodeviser, som ligger derhjemme. Nu kan jeg ikke længere se min data bare når det passer mig.
@CiaraNi Så hvis Norlys hjemmesiden viste de samme overskuelige oplysninger som du får i appen, så ville du godt kunne få den information du savner fra et mobil venlig website?
Der er altså ingen særlig funktionalitet ved telefonen (fx kamera, NFC-chip, GPS) som er strengt nødvendig?
Jeg spørger fordi jeg undres om almindelig information leveres via en app. Jeg har allerede en app til at vise information på min telefon, det hedder en browser.
Dobbeltarbejde?
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
@CiaraNi in fact terrible they force us to use big tech!
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@agturcz @CiaraNi that's awesome, I hope the electricity company does something with your request.
We don't have a similar campaign in the Netherlands, but we do have a similar problem. I'd love to get a Fairphone or any linux based phone with an alternative app store like @fdroidorg , but then my banking apps wouldn't work anymore. Same with DigiD (gov auth).
It would be great if gov and companies offered their apps in non-proprietary app stores. Maybe we need a campaign too @bo
@Gina @agturcz @fdroidorg @bo Same problem here with banking apps and, in some cases, the government ID app. I hope non-proprietary versions come soon. The government ID ('mitID') app problem is easy to work around, at least - there's a non-app alternative, a nice simple physical code-displayer. (I'm blanking on the English word for the yoke.)
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I don’t think I would have got that response if I hadn’t been able to link to the DanmarkSkifter campaign site. That showed there really is a grassroots movement and that people are actually making the switch away from BigTech.
Tak and thank you to everyone at #DanmarkSkifter for giving us a way to talk about the need for change and the tools to actually make the changes.
I don't know if other countries have an equivalent to the 'Denmark Switches' campaign. I hope so. It's a great initiative.
@CiaraNi interesting story. Does not having a mobile app precludes you entirely from paying your bills or you can continue by making bank wire transfers?
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@CiaraNi Så hvis Norlys hjemmesiden viste de samme overskuelige oplysninger som du får i appen, så ville du godt kunne få den information du savner fra et mobil venlig website?
Der er altså ingen særlig funktionalitet ved telefonen (fx kamera, NFC-chip, GPS) som er strengt nødvendig?
Jeg spørger fordi jeg undres om almindelig information leveres via en app. Jeg har allerede en app til at vise information på min telefon, det hedder en browser.
Dobbeltarbejde?
@oldrup Jeg deler din indgangsvinkel. Jeg bruger så få apps som muligt. Websider, der fungerer, er altid fint med mig. At jeg overhovedet brugte Norlys' app skyldes en fejlfakturerings-saga, hvor jeg måtte nær-følge mit forbrug i en lang periode. (Er løst, heldigvis.) Hvorfor der er bedre features i app'en end på websiden kan jeg ikke sige dig. Uanset, er det stadig tilfældet, at de udelukker betalende kunder fra en af deres tjenester, når deres app kun kan bruges af Google- og Apple-kunder.
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@agturcz @CiaraNi that's awesome, I hope the electricity company does something with your request.
We don't have a similar campaign in the Netherlands, but we do have a similar problem. I'd love to get a Fairphone or any linux based phone with an alternative app store like @fdroidorg , but then my banking apps wouldn't work anymore. Same with DigiD (gov auth).
It would be great if gov and companies offered their apps in non-proprietary app stores. Maybe we need a campaign too @bo
-
I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
@CiaraNi Heh, the most insulting "We need you to install Google Play Services" (as if that was ever something you installed in particular) dialogs are the ones that don't say it at all, but rather claim your device is too old and needs "an update". Same with the CloudFlare Turnstile gates that trigger when you decide you don't want them to run all sorts of code in your browser
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@CiaraNi interesting story. Does not having a mobile app precludes you entirely from paying your bills or you can continue by making bank wire transfers?
@ThePolishDispatch Oh no, not that bad, thankfully. I can still log on to my customer profile on their website and billing continues by automatic standing order as usual. Some of the useful features from the app aren't in their web services, though, and it's not handy for me to access on my mobile. So it's less convenient for checking my data, my consumption, hour-by-hour pricing, ,bill status etc. I can't do it on the fly, on my phone, any more.
