I tried to signup for an additional gmail account today and was presented with a new additional registration screen that requested my mobile telephone number. Has anyone else experienced this?

Google requested the number so that they could SMS me a "security code," which then they requested that I enter into their form in order to verify my identity. Well, I bailed out of the registration process.

In summary, our cell phone numbers are our national ID numbers. Once Google has your cell phone number, they know who you are, where you are physically located at any time, and who you are calling/texting. Further, they also have access to your email, so they know what you are saying and to whom.

This is a marketers wet dream, and a privacy advocates nightmare. So, now they always know where in the world I am, and who I am speaking with, when I am speaking to them, and the duration of that conversation, whether it is via via text, voice or via email (email also provides Google with the content of my discussions). One can assemble quite an extensive profile on someone with this type of data access ,especially with high speed content parsing technologies such as WolfRam (I will bring them up in a separate thread).

Does anyone know if other email providers are doing similar?

Makes sense. I suspect those new google cars are uploading data to super computers that can read license plates, connect that number with the driver and place them in real time.

I love using the vile gmail system to distribute information exposing it and everything else i run across for what it is. I have about had enough fun of letting them data mine my stuff though so its about time to switch to hushmail fully. Even hushmail is probably in on it too (data sharing). I guess the only way is to start my own mail server and encrypt all messages sent or received. Too bad I dont know how to make up my own encryption algo-rhythm.

Signed up before phone number was required but im sure they along with everyone else has it.

from Wikipedia



"...Soon after the launch human rights watchdog Privacy International sent a formal complaint about the service to the UK Information Commissioner's Office
(ICO), which cited more than 200 reports from members of the public who
were identifiable on Street View images. Privacy International director
Simon Davies said that the organization had filed the complaint due to
the "clear embarrassment and damage" Street View had caused to many Britons.
He said that Street View fell short of the assurances given by Google
to the ICO in July 2008 that had enabled its launch, namely that
privacy would be protected by blurring faces and vehicle licence
plates, and asked for the system to be "switched off" while an
investigation was completed. He said the few cases where Google's face
blurring system had failed meant the data used by Street View would
fall under UK Data Protection legislation, which requires that subjects give permission for the use of information concerning them.[77]..."

So, I was logged into a gmail account today, for quite some time, and while I was logged in I attempted to send an email. Their system had logged me out, and would not let me log back in until I gave them a cell phone number where they could "verify" me. It did this all while I was logged in.

I'm going to have to do a web search to see if there is any noise about this, as Google is obviously applying this new policy across the board.

That sucks its.

n/m