Google: Difference between revisions

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====Phone number requirement for new accounts (2020)====

Since 2020, Google has increasingly forced users to verify phone-numbers via SMS during account registration,<ref>https://support.google.com/accounts/thread/34403939/cannot-create-a-new-google-account-it-is-requiring-a-phone-number-forced-phone-verification</ref><ref>https://reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/oanh2p/does_google_now_require_a_phone_number_to_make/</ref> in an effort to "mitigate spam, bot activity, and account abuse"<ref>{{Cite web |~~first~~=CLRN |date=2025-07-25 |title=How to skip phone verification while creating Gmail account? |url=https://www.clrn.org/how-to-skip-phone-verification-while-creating-gmail-account/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-05-05 |website=California Learning Resource Network}}</ref>. They have a system that immediately detects reuse of numbers, so no accounts can have the same associated number.{{Citation needed}} This, paired with [[YouTube#Forced sign-in|YouTube's sign-in requirement]], makes it impossible for users to share a single "guest" account, as is typically the case for families sharing a smart TV.

Since 2020, Google has increasingly forced users to verify phone-numbers via SMS during account registration,<ref>https://support.google.com/accounts/thread/34403939/cannot-create-a-new-google-account-it-is-requiring-a-phone-number-forced-phone-verification</ref><ref>https://reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/oanh2p/does_google_now_require_a_phone_number_to_make/</ref> in an effort to "mitigate spam, bot activity, and account abuse"<ref>{{Cite web |author=CLRN |date=2025-07-25 |title=How to skip phone verification while creating Gmail account? |url=https://www.clrn.org/how-to-skip-phone-verification-while-creating-gmail-account/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-05-05 |website=California Learning Resource Network}}</ref>. They have a system that immediately detects reuse of numbers, so no accounts can have the same associated number.{{Citation needed}} This, paired with [[YouTube#Forced sign-in|YouTube's sign-in requirement]], makes it impossible for users to share a single "guest" account, as is typically the case for families sharing a smart TV.

====Blocking sideloading of unverified Android apps (Aug 2025)====

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 ====Phone number requirement for new accounts (2020)====
-Since 2020, Google has increasingly forced users to verify phone-numbers via SMS during account registration,<ref>https://support.google.com/accounts/thread/34403939/cannot-create-a-new-google-account-it-is-requiring-a-phone-number-forced-phone-verification</ref><ref>https://reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/oanh2p/does_google_now_require_a_phone_number_to_make/</ref> in an effort to "mitigate spam, bot activity, and account abuse"<ref>{{Cite web |first=CLRN |date=2025-07-25 |title=How to skip phone verification while creating Gmail account? |url=https://www.clrn.org/how-to-skip-phone-verification-while-creating-gmail-account/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-05-05 |website=California Learning Resource Network}}</ref>. They have a system that immediately detects reuse of numbers, so no accounts can have the same associated number.{{Citation needed}} This, paired with [[YouTube#Forced sign-in|YouTube's sign-in requirement]], makes it impossible for users to share a single "guest" account, as is typically the case for families sharing a smart TV.
+Since 2020, Google has increasingly forced users to verify phone-numbers via SMS during account registration,<ref>https://support.google.com/accounts/thread/34403939/cannot-create-a-new-google-account-it-is-requiring-a-phone-number-forced-phone-verification</ref><ref>https://reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/oanh2p/does_google_now_require_a_phone_number_to_make/</ref> in an effort to "mitigate spam, bot activity, and account abuse"<ref>{{Cite web |author=CLRN |date=2025-07-25 |title=How to skip phone verification while creating Gmail account? |url=https://www.clrn.org/how-to-skip-phone-verification-while-creating-gmail-account/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-05-05 |website=California Learning Resource Network}}</ref>. They have a system that immediately detects reuse of numbers, so no accounts can have the same associated number.{{Citation needed}} This, paired with [[YouTube#Forced sign-in|YouTube's sign-in requirement]], makes it impossible for users to share a single "guest" account, as is typically the case for families sharing a smart TV.
 ====Blocking sideloading of unverified Android apps (Aug 2025)====