r/Android • • 1d ago

Rumour Google is now self-Verifying Phone Number without user CONSENT

WARNING: Google Play Services is quietly "Self-Verifying" and linking your phone number to ALL signed-in accounts without explicit permission.

Just a heads up for anyone who values basic privacy on Android.

Check your inbox for emails from noreply-phone-verification@google.com.

Without asking for my confirmation or giving me an opt-in prompt, Google Play Services performed a silent background "Self-Verification."

It exchanged SIM card identifiers and device metadata with my mobile carrier, grabbed my phone number, and automatically attached it to EVERY Google account logged into my phone.

No prompt. No "Do you want to link this?" button. Just a silent background action followed by a notification email telling me it already happened.

How to kill this setting on Android immediately (for now) but it will self verify even if turned off Go to Settings > Google (or Google Services) > All Services > Phone Number Verification

Find Phone number verification (or Device Phone Number Verification). (Ah, and lovely it automatically appear my phone number even WHEN IT WAS NOT THERE BEFORE!)

TOGGLE IT OFF.

Don't forget to purge your accounts:

Once Google steals/verifies the number, it pushes it to your Google account profiles.

You need to log into myaccount.google.com/personal-info, click on Phone, and manually delete the number from every single account where you don't want it stored.

Modern "self-verification" dark patterns are completely out of hand. Check your settings before Google silently grabs your data too.

NO ANDROID IS SAFE: Happened on my Android 10 Huawei, Android 14 Xiaomi and is now requesting on my emulators too...even my tablet... Beware...

Edit1: Maybe dont work, i sent a mail to data-protection-office@google.com, literally asking ARCO rights and anything i can think about it, for such privacy invasion on the behalf of my and all accounts i have to "care" and so on...maybe this bring pressure

Edit2: u/AppleBites reports this "Google did the same to me when I got a 2nd number from another carrier, due to coverage. Even having GrapheneOS did not prevent them from linking the number to my Google account automatically."

Meaning even Graphene OS+GServices probably is unable to protect with this, a serious oversteeping in this messed thing

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u/Nanosinx 18h ago

Simple, Google Play Services has taken the amendt of SELF VERIFY no user consent, no "hey wanna Google get your phone number or anything xD" Usually they need sent a sms and you put a code from that sms right? LIE! Google Play Services do that process without consenting to the user to do it

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u/kipperzdog Pixel 8 16h ago

Okay, first of all, I hope English isn't your primary language because reading what you just wrote was incredibly difficult.

Second, I don't see what the problem is? It's a cell phone, it has a phone number, wouldn't it be in the best interest of security to verify the phone number to prevent fraud? Like, to me, the problem would just be if Google isn't being clear about what they're doing, not necessarily doing it in the first place

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u/Nanosinx 16h ago

It is my third language xD No, i dont care, i never authorize the self confirmation on Google to verify my phone number, like with the right of who?

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u/kipperzdog Pixel 8 16h ago

Fair enough!

I wonder on the consent thing, is it buried in the ToS for Google's services somewhere?

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u/Nanosinx 15h ago

Even if so, Google Sent an update would be done on Nov 5, they cant change it before Nov 5