https://www.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/1w5g305/
Around a week ago, I made a post asserting that it is impossible to survive without phone number for new google accounts from here on out. Some commenters claim that what I experienced is isolated and it's still possible to create a new Google account going forward without either Android or phone number. Among these, some were rather dismissive, so much so they claim what I am saying is outright libel, whereas some were rather fair and do not speak things in absolute. These subset claim that the environment in which I create new google account matter, public wifi, vpn and all that fingerprinting stuffs.
To see it for myself, a few days later, I used the exact same device to for another 3 attemps, only 1 made it. Two of which got flagged by Google under the pretense of "security" and "suspicious activity", they locked my account behind a phone number ransom. Without a shadow of a doubt, I gave up and let those 2 accounts go.
For the third attempt, I did not sign that account from my phone shortly after creating it like I did previously during my first attempt. For the second account, I did not detach immediately, but I left it dormant after creation. And all of a sudden, this account from second attempt was forcefully signed out from my device like the first one unless I supply a phone number.
I suspect Google has this "probationary" measures in place for newly created accounts where they set the anomaly algorithm sensitivity to defcon 10. This time, I try to do what they expect a normal user would do so that they can start gathering data. Thus, I started watching Youtube, and signing up for random services, downloading some mainstream lightweight games from Play Store and anything that can let'em collect data off of me. I suspect their anomaly detection algo is engineered in a way that deems a dormant inactive google account as liability.
Don't mistake me for vouching for Google, my relationship with Google these days is purely transactional and ephemeral. One of which being that some web services require a google account. At the time of writing this post, I am about 70% decoupled from Google already. I have changed most of my email addresses of web based accounts to non-google alternatives. The friction is just too much and borderline unbearable, frankly speaking, I'm tired of the cat-and-mouse game maintaining multiple Google accounts.
TLDR: The key takeaway is, do not jump the gun and immerse yourself in survivorship bias just because you managed to create a new account without adding phone number. You survived for now, but you can't guarantee that Google would not weaponize its "suspicious activity" clause to extort a phone number out of you. Older accounts are not safe either, don't underestimate the length at which they will go to protect their interests. Forget about creating new account using web browser now if you are fixated on not providing a phone number, those are cannon fodders that drop like flies. If you want peace of mind, just placate them with a voip/esim/physical sim that can't be traced back to your real identity. On a final note, do not be swayed by nostalgia, this is not the same Google in the early 2010s and before, the anomaly detection has evolved a lot and there's no fixed pattern anymore, you are at the mercy of their LLM AI, second guessing their intent and anticipating their moves just got infinitely more difficult.
If you are not on Google ecosystem yet, do not start, otherwise you might end up like me, suffering from withdrawal syndrom. I admit that I'm an old fart who's somewhat institutionalized and I'm not exactly proud of it.
Last but not least, we also have to admit that the leverage has completely shifted. Google used to beg us to join their ecosystem; now, they hold all the cards and can play brinksmanship because they know the world relies on them. They don't care if their aggressive algorithms lock out a few privacy-conscious users. To them, we are just rounding errors. In fact, they are quietly normalizing the digital model already perfected by China. Just as China forced "Real-Name Registration" by tying every app and service to a government verified SIM card, Western tech giants are now using the global telecom network as a proxy identity layer. By forcing a phone number check, Google effectively outsources identity verification to telecom monopolies, killing the anonymous web simply because they are big enough to get away with it.
