When signing into my Gmail or Google Voice account, Google consistently asks me for my phone number. Of course, my first thought was “it’s my Google Voice account… don’t you already have my number?” Apparently not, but either way Google doesn’t have a current number of mine, and I intend to keep it that way. Google however, doesn’t seem to agree.
Despite skipping through the process multiple times, Google has continued to harass me with phone number requests. How many times will I have to login and skip it before Google gets the idea? Where is the opt-out button? And yes… I know you say it’s for my own good in case I lock myself out of my account. But still, no thanks.
Even after clicking the tiny skip button, a confirmation window will appear. Are you sure about skipping? Yes Google, I am. I don’t want to phone a friend, I don’t want to ask the audience, this is my final answer!
Despite Google’s improved stance on privacy, its harassing for my number would prove otherwise. If Google requires a phone number, I’m happy to give them a fake one, but I’d prefer not to. If they require my real number, I’m happy to no longer use its services.
In the famous words of billpoulin: “TO ANYONE WHO ACTUALLY WORKS FOR GOOGLE: STOP ASKING FOR MY CEL NUMBER. I AM NEVER GIVING IT TO YOU.”
30 Comments
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sanjay
May 12, 2012 at 2:12 am
Hii austin, never stopped loving your posts,
HIi plz help me how could i get the sidebar gadget with latest popular comments tags gadget.
waiting for your reply
Richard
February 25, 2013 at 7:52 pm
I don’t even have a cell phone, so how am I meant to add my non-existent number?!
kamal ashraf
May 12, 2012 at 4:47 am
adding your mobile phone to google is not so bad, you can restore your google account, if some one hacks your google account or when you forget your password.
ShockerSH
May 12, 2012 at 8:21 am
Yeah Google is probably only asking so much in order to help the swell of users who always get locked out of their accounts or hacked.
That said, I’m going to guess there is an ulterior motive as well which has to do with mapping my online life with my mobile phone.
Or perhaps its just me. :)
Stian Gjelvold
February 4, 2013 at 8:28 am
After a little read-up on google’s darker side, I can’t say I find the company trustworthy at all. That fact aside, I actually gave up my phone number a long time ago, to no avail. The same (insert foul language) page keeps popping up every single time. My phone number always pops up in the same box where i originally wrote it, as does my choice of nationality, and I confirm this information every time but still… Same question. Now THAT is annoying. Does google think I get a new phone number every day of my life? Come on!
Austin Krause
February 4, 2013 at 9:02 am
Yeah it is very annoying isn’t it? While I don’t think Google is particularly evil, I don’t think it’s a good idea to put too much trust and too much information in the hands of a huge for-profit corporation which has no real incentive to keep everything private/anonymous.
Uknown
October 19, 2013 at 10:16 am
Yea, cause that happens SOO often we know!
It’s ALL part of them trying to get your information so that they can TRACK exactly who you are with your IP address, know what you’re posting and find out your real identity.
I for one will NEVER give them my cell phone number.. F*** them, or I’ll simply never have another account with them.. EVER!
Don’t be so NAIVE as to think it’s ONLY for supposed account security. Email address and entering in a captcha code is MORE than sufficient for this purpose.
Google, like Facebook, are all run By the NSA.. WAKE UP!
OcanMan
August 19, 2023 at 2:17 am
It is bad because they are asking for it so they can trace you, that’s a pretty big privacy issue
rob aubrey
May 12, 2012 at 8:30 am
Here’s a thought, if you don’t like their way of doing things with their FREE stuff, don’t use it.
#justsaying
Random
August 6, 2015 at 3:16 am
Since when does anything happen for free?
Bob Eckert
May 12, 2012 at 10:02 am
This is just more evidence (and we will see more from all over the social site network)
of personal data collecting. Despite all assurances from governments, experts, personnel
of the social network sites, and on and on YOU CAN REST ASSURED THAT YOUR
PERSONAL INFORMATION IS BEING COLLECTED AND DISTRIBUTED FOR ITS
MONETARY VALUE AS A WAY TO MARKET PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO YOU,
MANY, IF NOT ALL OF THEM, UNWANTED OR FOR OTHER USES UNKNOWN TO YOU
BOTH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL.
There, my all-caps rage bomb has passed.
As the “consumers” or users of the products and services on the net, we must
(as we must for brick and mortar) demand that these purveyors sufficiently protect
(even to the point where it isn’t “convenient” for us) our identities and personal
information and lobby our government to seriously “hurt” those that do not.
That is the only thing a person like Zuckerberg understands, a person who
“moves fast and breaks things”. Revolting.
Ronni
May 13, 2012 at 1:35 pm
As you said, “brick and mortar” stores are doing it too!
I told the checkout lady at Burlington Coat Factory (they actually have a sign at the checkout about it) that I didn’t want to give my number and get a bunch of sales calls. She said they wouldn’t call but they would offer me future discounts and let me know about specials.
I asked if they weren’t going to call the number then how were they going to offer all these great deals?
She said they would use a program and get my address from my number. I said it’s a cell number on a business account, and I don’t want to be bombarded by more junk mail at work either.
She said no one else has a problem with it.
Seriously?
Kenny
May 13, 2012 at 2:53 pm
“No one else has a problem with it” because most people are un-thinking lemmings who don’t question anyone in any role of authority.
Johnny
May 13, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Want to hear something very creepy? I have received the request from Google for my mobile number and still do on occasion. I decided to give them a bogus one instead of doing the “skip” option one time. I gave them a phone number that wasn’t mine, it very well may have been someones’ because I made it up at random, BUT, the message came back that it MUST be a legitimate member / user phone number!
Question is, how does “it” know that ‘s not my number? What is “it” comparing to?
If Google really does know what my number is, why do they ask for it?
Creepy.
I hit the skip button now whenever it comes up, which isn’t often.
Barry Dunne
May 14, 2012 at 4:46 pm
See what Google do are very smart and sneaky. They are as bad as Facebook as them giving our information to the government. Google have the likes of Google Maps…which does what…it tracks your location. Yes it saved me when I was in Dublin but they know exactly where you are…we live in a scary world…
Steve Krause
May 14, 2012 at 5:26 pm
Well I personally don’t have information regarding what internet companies give governments in regards to my account data. I guess assume the worst and hope for the best and plan accordingly.
Don’t forget however, this is an electronic world and we all leave digital footprints everywhere we go on the internet. Specifically I’m talking about credit cards and other banking cards. Not only do they know WHERE you’ve been but also what you buy, when you buy it and how many of them you’ve bought. Buying clothing? Vacation Rentals? Airline Tickets? Condoms? Tampons? Aspirin? Advil? Yeah, that’s a lot of information available to the highest bidder. Hopefully your wife doesn’t do any bidding to find out if you were alone on that last “business” trip. heheheh
Ronni
June 2, 2012 at 1:22 pm
I was just asked to give my phone number in order to set up a new gmail account.
I donate blood regularly, and yesterday while scheduling an appointment over the phone I realized the blood bank has my email wrong — off by one letter — which would explain why I never received emails from them.
It was verbally corrected, and I received a confirmation email.
But today when I tried to log on to my Digital Donor account (only been there once when I created it & apparently misspelled my email addy), I couldn’t use my correct email address. When I tried to use my incorrect email address, that worked but couldn’t remember my user id. They sent a hint to the incorrect addy.
Sigh. . . so, I tried to create a new gmail account using the misspelled addy, and it would not let me continue without giving a phone number to which they could send a verification code. Hitting the browser back button only kept me at the phone number page.
I’ll opt to fill out the health related questions in person when I donate, rather than save some time doing it online. Maybe the blood bank can correct the problem on their end. But Google is not getting my phone number. I’m sure they already have it, so why keep bugging me or requiring it for new accounts?
iceruam
August 27, 2012 at 10:50 am
I have no cell phone, cell phone service where I live is spotty at best, stand on one leg face north and say please. I therefore find no reason to have one. But gmail keeps asking…I wish there were a do not ask again checkbox…erg
Austin Krause
August 27, 2012 at 1:11 pm
I hear ya. I can’t wait for the day when Google implements such a feature, but I’m beginning to doubt it ever will.
G.
January 22, 2013 at 6:39 pm
Great article. I think the same. And why not OTHER “two steps systems”? Why not, for example, allow to add more than one e-mail for recover the account and use something like a two step check with different e-mail accounts? I have like five e-mail accounts on different services for different purposes and it would be safer than letting them have my cellphone number.
And what about Android? It’s my phone OS and it’s almost an obligation to have a Google account to synchronize it, and use Google Play for apps. Soooooo…. Don’t they ALREADY have my cellphone number on that account, for example? Why ask for it if I already “gave it” to them because of Android?
Sorry for grammar or spelling errors. I’m out of practice with my english.
Snežana Rakić
May 21, 2019 at 7:46 am
Because they want you to say your number etc. willingly. (OK, I’m out of practice my english, too).
Tom
March 4, 2013 at 8:47 am
Yes, Google continues to get creepier.
Thanks for this post!
I love Google, but now I’m starting to get worried. Where is the opt-out button?
As more and more of our lives gets invested into the internet and cloud, where is there to hide, if “big brother” ever turns on us and comes a-knockin?
The big machines are around the corner.
Watch out kids. We have privacy laws for a reason.
Tom
greglim
March 4, 2013 at 2:00 pm
Another thing is that In canceled my SMS Service a long time ago with AT&T. I do not like SMS specially when they charge me .25 c per message. I do not want to have the unlimited SMS service for $5 per month, I do not want SMS even if it were free. So how can google offers me an SMS method to recover my email account. I don’t want to provide my mobile number neither I want to have SMS. Google can you dig it. Eventually I would use What’s Up or Viber for messages if needed but I never need it. Please google stop asking for my mobile number.
Johnny
March 4, 2013 at 5:21 pm
As far as “Big Brother” is concerned, they’re going to do what ever they please, when ever they please. I’m not worried about them so much because there isn’t much I can do to change the out come. With Google, on the other hand, I can control, to the best of my ability, the information they collect & use with out my knowledge. After I gave them a bogus phone number (see post in my name above) They have only posted that request page once, at which time I gave them another bogus phone number.
I use Google as a search default, and find them very useful. I’ll just keep screwing with their heads and give them mis-information & hope for the best.
On another note, why does this page need my email address? (required)?? Just asking.
Doesn't own a phone...
March 8, 2013 at 11:32 am
I think it’s rather odd they assume everyone has a moble or even a regular phone anymore… I don’t have one (well I do but it’s been turned off some 2+ years, I use(d) google phone for outgoing, and everyone just emails me… which is a preferred way of dealing with humanity from my perspective, def. helps keep my day productive, and I have yet to have the kinds of issues the “text-cows” have… you know… wandering into walls, or people, or driving into trees, or houses, or other cars, etc… amazing what a little box can do to the human mind… I sometimes wonder if H.G got it wrong, the Morlocks should have had suits on, and the Eloi should have been wandering around a mall with a moble texting eachother and waiting to be lunch.
Freonpsandoz
April 20, 2015 at 12:05 am
The way Google pesters users like this, the phone number has to be for the benefit of Google. If it were for the users’ own good, there would be an opt-out button.
Brett
November 25, 2015 at 1:52 am
3 1/2 years later and were are still dealing with this constant nagging for my phone number. They seem to want it very badly. It’s very annoying, and not they want to call you whenever you set up a new email account, and get you phone number that way. Not just a number, but a verified number. It seems that their number collection is escalating.
Someone
April 11, 2016 at 8:07 pm
Don’t use Google other than their search engine, that’s it. They are the scum of the internet. I remember when they started… everyone was pleased with the efficient and clean looking search engine, but they grew up into this monster that wants to gobble up every parts of our lives. I closed my account a long time ago and never looked back.
Iswanizan
August 16, 2017 at 3:16 pm
Lately, i faced same issue. Everyday google asked me same request on my smartphone. Don’t know how to stop it. To Google, please help to check it.
Antee
January 19, 2023 at 3:36 am
No one ever stole my google account or evev try but I’ve lost at least 7,8 google accounts because of their privacy terror policies with phone number…
I transfered my main contact mail to tutanota and proton because I can’t afford to google terrorize me under false security ‘concerns’ if I change device or number.
Aaaand I just don’t want to give ’em number voluntarily.
10 years after this article is written I *”%$# google and their account ‘security’ aka privacy intrusions.