Belgium's MyGov app does not work on GrapheneOS
Some background: MyGov.be is a government app that allows access to documents and works as an authenticator for official websites. The authenticator function is particularly important, as the only realistic alternatives are either using an e-ID card reader or Itsme, the latter being a collaboration between leading banks and telecom giants.
Oddly enough, the MyGov Android app - developed by the federal government using taxpayer funds - is fully reliant on Google Play Services. More recently, it flat-out refuses to load on GrapheneOS for 'security' reasons. Apparently, security can only be guaranteed on Android 10 without security updates.
It is peculiar that the commercial alternative (Itsme) works perfectly fine on GrapheneOS without Google Play Services. So either Itsme is taking a significant security risk or the risk is, at best, greatly exaggerated.
It pains me to see Belgium (and the EU) spending billions of taxpayer funds to become 'more technologically independent', while simultaneously developing new critical infrastructure that is fully reliant on the blessing of a US multinational, both for its installation (Google Play Store) and use (Google Play Services).
Are the developers to blame? In all likelihood not. Developing the Android app without dependencies requires taking managerial risks: the development cost would have been higher and someone would have to work against the ‘Nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM’-principle. If something goes wrong that could have been avoided by fully relying on Google Play Services, someone would have to defend why this decision was made, especially if the actual user base of GrapheneOS was incredibly low. Nevertheless, I would argue that a key role for governments is ensuring that their citizens have access to their services, regardless of whether those citizens consent to being surveilled by US multinationals.