Google being evil

[darxus]

"Help us keep your account secure

Just enter your mobile phone number, and we'll let you know if we notice unusual activity in your account. Learn more about how a phone number can help secure your account"

- Google, when I tried to check my calender.

This information is incredibly valuable to them, for selling the data they've collected on you to people advertising on mobile browsers. Implying that it's for your own good is evil.

Comments

It's an interesting dilemma

[drwex]

I use my mobile number for two-factor authentication of my Google logins. I set that up after it became clear that the Chinese were sweeping up as many gmail accounts as they could hack and using those for phishing attacks. I have a lot invested in my gmail account and would rather not have to trash it because someone uses it to impersonate me for ill ends.

I believe that when I signed up for this there was a notice that the number would not be used for advertising purposes. I don't generally see ads on my mobile browser - all the ads I see on my phone are in specific (non-Google) apps - so I have no way to verify if this is in fact what they're doing. And they could be selling my number to these app-makers without my knowledge, and the app makers could be customizing based on that. But I see no evidence of that.