Google is quietly linking your phone number to other Android accounts | HappeningNow.news

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Google is quietly linking your phone number to other Android accounts

Android phones have been attaching their SIM's phone number to every signed-in Google account on that device for more than a year.

Source AI Summary Published October 24, 2026 Brief Under 1 min brief
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Android phones have been attaching the SIM’s phone number to every Google account signed in on the device for over a year. Google’s support docs state that the number is verified automatically during setup and added to all accounts, including work and secondary ones. The company says this verification supports account recovery and RCS messaging but does not explain why every account requires the number. Android Authority noted that the documentation was updated between August and October 2025 to mark verification as on by default, and a Google Play services changelog from September 8, 2025 confirms the feature runs automatically. Users are only now discovering the practice after receiving unprompted emails from noreply-phone-verification@google.com confirming their number had been verified.

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