Tell HN: Google requiring phone number to log into Chromebook
I've had this happen with gmail accounts randomly. Most of the time with computers I've been using for years on the same network.<p>The worst occasion I've ever had was the one time I was traveling. I was getting by with only wifi and, naturally, didn't have a phone number to confirm my account with. I didn't have a number bound to my account, either, making the whole process pointless.<p>How did I get into my account? I asked a random guy who walked by if I could login to my email on his phone (since at that point I'd left my wifi area and couldn't login with my own device). It was essential that I check an email at that point, so I didn't have a choice. It was anti-security--I literally gave full access to my email account to some man I never met before in a different country.<p>Google needs to stop pretending it's some security measure. It's not. It's data harvesting, plain and simple. I just wish they'd admit it.