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

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

#371

Post by negura »

nzeid wrote: post #178
Night_Thastus wrote: post #177

People complain a lot about Gmail, but honestly I kind of understand Google's plight here. They've essentially gotten roped into maintaining a huge chunk of internet infrastructure, for free . If they ever shut it down the whole world would end up rioting because it's so widely used. But it's expensive, complicated and time-consuming to maintain - and both a source of and recipient of endless waves of spam and scams.…

> They've essentially gotten roped into maintaining a huge chunk of internet infrastructure, for free. If they ever shut it down the whole world would end up rioting because it's so widely used. Not even remotely true. They regularly shut down products and services with impunity. If Gmail cost more than the data they directly or indirectly mine and sell from their users, Gmail wouldn't exist either.

it's insane to frame anything a company like Google does as some kind of goodwill. rather than an amoral profit optimization. contrary to OP, what people often overlook about GMail is not their "plight". but the powerful brand awareness it creates

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

#372

Post by cube00 »

chrsstrm wrote: post #269
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…

You can reach a point where the phone number you used for 2FA has been "used too many times" and then you're stuck in the middle of registration. There doesn't seem to be any documented limit anywhere and the only solution people have been able to use is find someone else to help you verify with their phone number. What makes this more difficult is when you get logged out of one of your accounts, they ask for a phone…

>find someone else to help you verify with their phone number

Very risky, either of you gets banned (it's a risk given now ban happy Google are) you'll both lose your accounts.

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

#373

Post by negura »

eatsyourtacos wrote: post #210
nzeid wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They've essentially gotten roped into maintaining a huge chunk of internet infrastructure, for free. If they ever shut it down the whole world would end up rioting because it's so widely used. Not even remotely true. They regularly shut down products and services with impunity. If Gmail cost more than the data they directly or indirectly mine and sell from their users, Gmail wouldn't exist either.

Yes it is remotely true. Name one thing they have shut off that a large number of people actually used and it was important. We all joke about Google dropping things and yes they have, but saying they can just drop Gmail is.. well, insane.

they essentially shut down the old (useful) google search when they prioritized ad-heavy websites in the ranking

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

#374

Post by tardedmeme »

Aurornis wrote: post #23

> Supposedly, using the QR code on the smartphone triggers an SMS sent from your phone to Google in order to verify your phone number. Does anyone have a better source of information than this one forum comment from someone who thinks scanning a QR code is enough to get your phone to send a text message? EDIT: It’s just an SMS URI. It doesn’t automatically send anything, just opens a text message for you to send. Thi…

The old method was for you to receive an SMS. Because it's easy to pay a phone farm 30 cents to receive an SMS now, they're changing it to sending. Phone farms will also adapt.

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

#375

Post by tardedmeme »

dotancohen wrote: post #175
mghackerlady wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happens when your phone can't do that? I use a flip phone. It can't scan QR codes despite having a camera

My S24 Ultra no longer has rear cameras, they no longer work after the phone fell from a table. I can not scan QR codes either. So many companies - such as electric car charging stations - require this without considering failure modes and alternative workflows.

The elder gods have declared that you have been unpersoned... until you buy a new phone.

Also try squeezing the phone at various points to see if it pops the internal connector back in. You can find a repair video to see where the connector is.

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

#376

Post by sneak »

Google has requried a phone number for registration for a long while now, and blocks many types of phone numbers, including almost all easily-created ones, making creating new Gmail accounts rather difficult without a trip to the store to buy a prepaid SIM.

(In many countries, including soon the USA[1], you can't get a phone number+sim without showing ID, also.)

[1]: https://reclaimthenet.org/the-fcc-wants-your-id-before-you-g...

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

#377

Post by tardedmeme »

chrsstrm wrote: post #269
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…

You can reach a point where the phone number you used for 2FA has been "used too many times" and then you're stuck in the middle of registration. There doesn't seem to be any documented limit anywhere and the only solution people have been able to use is find someone else to help you verify with their phone number. What makes this more difficult is when you get logged out of one of your accounts, they ask for a phone…

IIRC the limit is 4 accounts and it's documented somewhere.

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

#378

Post by negura »

kstrauser wrote: post #226

Oh, excellent! Having been on the end of someone flooding a service with tens of thousands of autogenerated Gmail accounts. And if you don’t want to share your phone number with Google, which I totally respect, there are a zillion other email providers. Contrary to popular perception, Gmail != email.

most major platforms reject email addresses that are not from major providers. for example creating a deepseek account asks to use a "global provider" and gives GMail as an example. github recently rejected @proton.me. discord does this as well etc

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

#379

Post by tardedmeme »

sneak wrote: post #376

Google has requried a phone number for registration for a long while now, and blocks many types of phone numbers, including almost all easily-created ones, making creating new Gmail accounts rather difficult without a trip to the store to buy a prepaid SIM. (In many countries, including soon the USA[1], you can't get a phone number+sim without showing ID, also.) [1]: https://reclaimthenet.org/the-fcc-wants-your-id-be…

It's important to note that even if you have to provide ID to get a SIM, Google still doesn't see your ID (yet).

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

#380

Post by Barrin92 »

idle_zealot wrote: post #354
Barrin92 wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Systems are designed for humans They also happen to be designed by humans, and if you're just begging to have the system fix people's beliefs about corporate greed for you but don't think people themselves are at fault I have no idea why you'd think the systems would be fixed. Always these complains about corporations or systems or institutions, the responsible person is never "I". If you're unwilling to take respon…

This doesn't sound like a meaningful critique. You're basically arguing for a culture-first approach to a systemic problem, but insisting that that culture should be one of individual responsibility. I contend that it's exactly that culture that divides the oppressed and justifies exploitation. You've decided a priori that people get what they deserve. I see injustice and try to spread understanding of how our system…

I'm not just talking about individual responsibility, but collective responsibility emerges from individual responsibility. You start with yourself, then your family, then your community, then your state, then your country, bottom up.

When the company dumps garbage in the town you don't blame the company, you and your neighbors go and put a stop to it. If you're both individually and collectively indifferent then you indeed get what you deserve. That' not an a priori assumption, that's a logical fact. You either take control and self-govern or you're governed. This idea that education or social life works like McDonald's where you yell for the manager if something broken is pathetic.

Vague complaints about 'the system' or crying for some hero CEO, strongman president or influencer or activist of the week to save us poor souls isn't how a free people act. These are problems that can be solved locally from the ground up. You don't need to wait for 'policies' to change, you and your neighbors drag whoever is responsible for that out, or even organize the garbage disposal yourself if need be.

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