by Charlie_Heslin
Maybe this is normal nowadays and I’m just being paranoid, but I have 3 different email accounts I made some where between 2009-2014 without any of them being linked to a cell phone number. Sure, they would always suggest that for verification purposes and lost passwords you should give them your number, but it was never mandatory before. I know because I hate giving out my cell phone number and avoid things that require it when possible.
So I went to try and make a new Gmail account right before posting this and yeah it is now required to verify by text if you want to continue the steps needed to register the username. I mean I get it, I know about yopmail and the other burner email services, but it just seems kinda “big brother” esque to force people to give you unrelated personal information in order to make a simple email account.
Don’t even get me started on the fact that it singlehandedly destorys any shred of anonymity left in using the internet. Google is the powerhouse. Gmail is probably one of the most used email providers, and they are now saying that if you want to use our services, we demand we know who you are.
We promise we wont share your identity or personal information with anyone!
Bullshit.
Edit: People seem to be misinterpretting the point of this post. I know there are tons of other email providers that you dont need to verify by cell, I just thought it was odd that Gmail had switched from making that step skippable to making it mandatory.