Google's sign in with phone number option can help you recover your account
A couple of days ago, I told you how you can regain access to your Google account using Recovery Contacts. Let's discuss the other recovery option that Google introduced, sign in with phone number.
Now, you may wonder, didn't Google already let you sign in using a phone number? Technically, no, but you're not completely wrong about that. Up until now, Google has allowed users to sign in to their account using your username, password, and your mobile number. Your phone number is used to receive an SMS for 2-step verification. That's not very secure, because the SMS protocol lacks support for encryption. You could, and should, use an authenticator app instead.
But let's get back to using a phone number to sign in. Google will ask you to enter your phone number, which is used to search for accounts connected to that number. This is done by verifying your number with your carrier, likely via an automated text message. Then, Google will display all accounts that are connected to your phone number. Select the one you want to sign in to, and then you will be asked to enter the passcode of your previous device. This is required to verify the sign in attempt and allow access to your encrypted data.
Is this secure? Well, it doesn't rely solely on SMS. You will need to enter your device's passcode to verify the account, so I'd say it is more secure. It also supports screen patterns. This might be useful if you don't have a secondary phone or access to your passkeys, 2FA, etc. The support article for the feature is available here, though it doesn't seem to explain much about it.
Google's announcement mentions that this method is useful when phones get lost, stolen or stop working. Though it doesn't portray it as such, you can use it for setting up a new phone. I haven't tested it, but it is not a recovery only option, it's a sign in option. That's what it is designed for, when you lose access to your phone, obviously you are going to be switching to a new phone. Right? It might be more convenient perhaps, but I'd probably still use a 2FA app, it's more secure as TOTPs can't be guessed or brute forced like a passcode or screen pattern can. Besides, this new method only works on Android devices, not on iOS, PC, Linux or Mac. So, you'll still need to use traditional login methods.
Google says the option to sign in with a phone number is slowly rolling out to users globally.
On a side note, Google Messages now protects you from spam links, and helps verify the identity of your contacts.
Agreed
This is really helpful information! Many people forget the importance of linking their phone number to their Google account. Using the “Sign in with phone number” option not only makes login faster but also adds an extra layer of security. It’s a lifesaver when recovering a forgotten password or locked account. Thanks for highlighting this useful feature!
Very helpful for Google indeed: yet more info about you.
It’s the same with Protonmail which falsely nudged me to add a recovery email, at first it didn’t let me log in due to detection of “suspicious activity”, luckily had the recovery pass phrase which helped to log in but had to in addition add another email, then after managing to log in then checked the IP number log but there was no suspicious activity since last time logged in.
They are most probably all in same bed and probably connected in some way to Palantir.
If someone steals your smartphone you are fu****, completely by the way.
Never. If they block me from installing graphene or lineage i’ll buy something else and that might happen with 10.
IMO security concept is degrading with that option. As an example, Protonmail just changed to suggest we remove the phone recovery method. In the ealy google advanced program was only possible to use a key like yubikey, now there are a lot of backdoors. Sincerely, I think it is a downgrade in security, that is my main concern.
You can’t wait all videos on youtube without an account. You can’t make a youtube account without a google account. You can’t make a google account without a phone number. How far will they go.
Till they control you completely.
Haven’t they also been nagging about a home address for years?
They are already forcing people to send a copy of their license (or in lieu of that, have a 3rd-party and their partners (ie; the government) go through all your emails).
Police state. (First They Came…)
Now they are nagging for age verification…I noticed that when I logged in last week..it told me to verify my age with ID or credit card, LOL
Should also add your ID for your safety to prove it’s still you owning that phone number ;)
/s