Gmail prompt to provide phone number sounds like a threat

  • @DoomBot5@lemmy.world
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    1362 years ago

    Dumb take. All it’s warning you is that without those, you won’t have a way to recover your account it you lose your password or if it’s hacked and someone changes it.

    • @Matomo@lemmy.ml
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      442 years ago

      Yeah, I’m all for bashing companies regarding privacy and whatnot, but this is just informing/warning you about account security.

    • @janonymous@lemmy.world
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      142 years ago

      Yeah, probably, but I’ve noticed lots of sites use security as an excuse to get your phone number. For my work account Google forced me to enable 2FA for security reasons, but wouldn’t allow the authenticator, only my phone number, until they had it. Then I was allowed to switch to the authenticator. That was not a setting my employer could change, either, they tried for half an hour.

      Phone numbers are used to congregate the your data that’s collected on different sites to one profile. I’m pretty sure that is the main reason Google and others are pushing you so hard to give it up.

      • w2tpmf
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        -42 years ago

        Nonsense. You don’t even have to use Google’s authenticator when setting up MFA. You can just scan the QR it gives you using any authenticator app. You can use Microsoft Authenticator, Duo Mobile, Lastpass, WatchGaurd, etc, etc

    • @KhalBrogo@lemm.ee
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      02 years ago

      Actually I had to let go of an email because Google wouldn’t let me login without giving my number or alternative email