diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 37e8237..6f98c9b 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ ENV PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1 \
 WORKDIR /app
 
 COPY backend/requirements.txt .
-RUN pip install -r requirements.txt
+RUN pip install --upgrade pip && pip install -r requirements.txt
 
 COPY backend/ .
 COPY --from=frontend /fe/dist ./app/static_spa
diff --git a/backend/app/auth.py b/backend/app/auth.py
index c5b086b..787f2b7 100644
--- a/backend/app/auth.py
+++ b/backend/app/auth.py
@@ -213,13 +213,14 @@ def current_user(request: Request, db: Session = Depends(get_db)) -> User:
 
 @router.get("/upgrade")
 async def upgrade(
-    request: Request, access: str = "write", user: User = Depends(current_user)
+    request: Request, access: str = "read", user: User = Depends(current_user)
 ):
     """Incremental consent for the onboarding wizard. `access=read` grants YouTube
     read-only (enough to build the feed); `access=write` additionally grants management
     (unsubscribe). The shared callback stores whatever Google returns, so `can_read` /
-    `can_write` flip on once granted."""
-    scope = READ_SCOPES if access == "read" else WRITE_SCOPES
+    `can_write` flip on once granted. Anything other than an explicit `write` defaults to
+    the least-privileged read scope."""
+    scope = WRITE_SCOPES if access == "write" else READ_SCOPES
     return await oauth.google.authorize_redirect(
         request,
         settings.oauth_redirect_url,
diff --git a/backend/requirements.txt b/backend/requirements.txt
index 351833b..6ba02a4 100644
--- a/backend/requirements.txt
+++ b/backend/requirements.txt
@@ -11,4 +11,4 @@ feedparser>=6.0,<7.0
 apscheduler>=3.10,<4.0
 py3langid>=0.3,<1.0
 itsdangerous>=2.1,<3.0
-cryptography>=42,<46
+cryptography>=46.0.7,<47