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Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message

discuss.privacyguides.net

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Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message

#111

Post by weberer »

CWwdcdk7h wrote: post #16

Last time YouTube wanted to verify my phone number it was easier to find a free service to receive SMS than for Google to deliver it to my actual phone. And Google didn't care I "verified" a number assigned to other side of the world.

Be careful. Google once locked me out of an account that I've owned for over 10 years one day. My username and password were correct, but they randomly flipped 2FA on (without my consent) and sent the recovery code to a phone number that I switched away from years ago. It was completely unrecoverable. There's absolutely no way to get in touch with customer service. Never make an account with them unless you're not willing to lose it randomly to automated bureaucracy.

Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message

#112

Post by aboardRat4 »

windexh8er wrote: post #31
daft_pink wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His point was just that many business users can only purchase Google’s solution or Microsoft’s solution, because they’re the only services that will offer interoperability with many other security and compliance services and advanced functionality like SSO, third party email scanning, compliance journaling etc. The email market is essentially a duopoly as soon as you need any functionality beyond basic email.

The simple fact that you believe this is insane to me. Microsoft? Security and compliance ? Ahhh, yes the north star of security! No, you don't need either of these companies if you need a corporate stack for communication and collaboration. And anyone who believes Microsoft or Google is doing anything out of the ordinary to protect their users or data is out of the loop.

>No, you don't need either of these companies if you need a corporate stack for communication and collaboration

A lot of corporate (customer) email sevices drop email from everybody except a very short whitelist.

Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message

#114

Post by greentea23 »

flumes_whims_ wrote: post #84
arjie wrote: post #58

I went through it to register just now. No QR code required. Same flow as it has been for years: 1. Personal/Child/Business 2. First/Last 3. Pick email 4. Date of Birth 5. Backup email / Skip 6. Password 7. Enter phone number 8. Confirm with 2FA code 9. Done. I just made the email testregistrationflow@gmail.com and have since forgotten the password. So that’s one burned. But feel free to try testregistrationflow1@gma…

Probably depends on how "trust worthy" you seem to Google for them to trigger this requirement. Things like using Linux, using Firefox, using a VPN, etc.

The irony is that no real scammer would use this setup because they know it would stand out.

Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message

#115

Post by aboardRat4 »

spwa4 wrote: post #14

The real problem for privacy is that governments are increasingly outsourcing the verification of identity and bot protection to private companies.

And what do you expect instead? To get a Russian gosuslugi ID, you also need to bind your phone and ID number.

And of course their database is leaked in real time.

Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message

#116

Post by thewebguyd »

traviswingo wrote: post #48
torben-friis wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spam is getting horrible lately. I get all sorts of new techniques including: - using legitimate sites to bypass filters, like sending you a bill through a legitimate bill-creation site - pretending to be a tracking service for something you supposedly ordered, then over the course of days pretending the package got lost on the way and offering a discount code for the 'purchased' amount, expecting you to use it on th…

I can’t prove it, but it feels like the world recently decided that spamming/scamming is acceptable, so the number of spammers/scammers has increased dramatically. The number of spam calls, texts, emails, iCloud account unlock requests, etc I’ve received in the last year is insane.

Lack of accountability for the companies that allow their services & platforms to be used for spam/scamming.

Take DocuSign for instance. Still, this many years later, is a major source of phishing emails from their free trials. DocuSign could easily shut this down today by either requiring a CC for the trial, or forcing a call with a sales rep to start a trial. But they don't, they continue to allow their service to be used for wide scale phishing.

Atera, an RMM, is another one that has been a big source of malware delivery, also via the free trials.

Shutting down the trial accounts after the fact does nothing, the emails already went out.

Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message

#117

Post by aboardRat4 »

carlosjobim wrote: post #24
spwa4 wrote: post #14

The real problem for privacy is that governments are increasingly outsourcing the verification of identity and bot protection to private companies.

Outsourcing? Governments have never been involved in bot protection or online identity verification for anything else than their own websites. It's like saying that the government has outsourced burger making to McDonalds.

LiveJournal allows verification with Russian State ID "gosuslugi".

Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message

#118

Post by cjbgkagh »

torben-friis wrote: post #22
dvh wrote: post #4

Any Gmail person can tell me why Gmail is tolerating Gmail phishing emails that use Google's own services (e.g. https://storage.googleapis.com/savelinge/ ... ? More info here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46665414

Spam is getting horrible lately. I get all sorts of new techniques including: - using legitimate sites to bypass filters, like sending you a bill through a legitimate bill-creation site - pretending to be a tracking service for something you supposedly ordered, then over the course of days pretending the package got lost on the way and offering a discount code for the 'purchased' amount, expecting you to use it on th…

Gmail spam filtering is so bad that I believe it has to be intentional. I think they see email as a long term ad revenue opportunity and want to desensitize people to the spam.

Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message

#119

Post by Daishiman »

thisislife2 wrote: post #82
torben-friis wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spam is getting horrible lately. I get all sorts of new techniques including: - using legitimate sites to bypass filters, like sending you a bill through a legitimate bill-creation site - pretending to be a tracking service for something you supposedly ordered, then over the course of days pretending the package got lost on the way and offering a discount code for the 'purchased' amount, expecting you to use it on th…

If I put on my tinfoil hat, it seems to be something deliberate, to push us all towards accepting hardware / software attestation and better "online id" stuff - "Don't you want to identify and stop the spammers and phishers?" . Email scanning and file scanning (on our computer) became acceptable when the level of spam and malware became intolerable. But it was at cost of our privacy. Today, Gmail scans all your mails…

It doesn't have to be deliberate; it's just the economic incentives at work. AI providers are inclined to sell AI to everyone with a pulse, and it just so happens that a lot of its use will for towards spam generation.

It also just happens that they're the ones best positioned to provide attestation and identity services.

Re: Gmail registration now requires scanning a QR code and sending a text message

#120

Post by deaton »

torben-friis wrote: post #81
traviswingo wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t prove it, but it feels like the world recently decided that spamming/scamming is acceptable, so the number of spammers/scammers has increased dramatically. The number of spam calls, texts, emails, iCloud account unlock requests, etc I’ve received in the last year is insane.

I think part of it is AI allowing sophistication at scale, but there's also a generational factor. The techbro + business shark culture, influencers who manipulate people being role models, and so on.

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