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Tell HN: Google requiring phone number to log into Chromebook

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Tell HN: Google requiring phone number to log into Chromebook

#81

Post by half0wl »

greenhatman wrote: post #70
cm2187 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sonos just did the same. They want you to create an account (and therefore give them an email) and otherwise are effectively bricking the device in the latest update. Was time to get rid of this pos.

Doesn't Apple do that too? One of the reasons I use Linux on my MacBook.

Where/when did you encounter that? I used a Mac machine for awhile without even logging into iCloud/Apple ID; I don't recall being asked for any personal info beyond what's required to set-up the machine.

Off-topic, out of curiosity: what distro are you running on the MacBook, and how's that going?

Re: Tell HN: Google requiring phone number to log into Chromebook

#82

Post by carlos_silva »

johnchristopher wrote: post #63
mavhc wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough. I'd just pick up a random sim card at any supermarket, comes with a free phone number.

They closed that loophole in Europe after the terrorist attacks of recent years. You can't buy pre-paid SIM cards without giving an ID anymore.

In Portugal you can buy and use a prepaid sim card without showing your ID or giving away any personal information. On the other hand buying credit is done via the bank, so you only have a few euros to spend before losing anonymity.

Re: Tell HN: Google requiring phone number to log into Chromebook

#84

Post by open-source-ux »

reacharavindh wrote: post #30

Evil. Imagine those teens at school, that bought Chromebooks because they were more affordable, and now getting pried on like this.. :-( It is this generation that is going to lose the idea of privacy and suffer from these piece of shit corporations. It's almost like watching a movie.

>"...and now getting pried on like this."

Those students are being tracked regardless of whether they provided their mobile phone number. ChromeOS is an entire operating system that tracks you from the moment you sign-in with your Google account.

Sure, you can use a guest account, but you won't be able to save anything because the entire OS is "cloud-based".

People rush to Google's defence and say that Google doesn't build ad or marketing profiles from student data. But even if the online activity from students is aggregated or detached from individual accounts, that still means Google holds the personal online behaviour of millions of students. They can now poke and interrogate that data in ways that even they probably haven't fully grasped. And as we've seen from Netflix and Spotify, aggregated data still lets you pull out precise details and behaviour from "anonymised" data (a meaningless term).

Tracking is so pervasive and so normalised that no-one even bothers to ask: why should students be tracked in the first place? Tracking online behaviour is in Google's DNA and no-one does it at such industrial scale.

The hypocrisy of the tech community who have nothing to say on the privacy implications of ChromeOS in schools is hard to understand.

Re: Tell HN: Google requiring phone number to log into Chromebook

#85

Post by jocoda »

techsupporter wrote: post #61
Casseres wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you already have to give them your social security number to open the account FYI, no you do not have to. > You are not required to have a social security number to open a checking or savings account. Source: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/can-i-get-a-checkin...

I am very curious to know of a bank or credit union that will open an account without a social security number.

Non US citizens are able to open bank accounts in the US. By definition they do not have social security numbers.

Re: Tell HN: Google requiring phone number to log into Chromebook

#86

Post by stijnstijn »

bodi wrote: post #44
saryant wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This conspiracy theory makes no sense. Why on earth would your bank need identify you by phone number when you already have to give them your social security number to open the account?

> conspiracy theory Its a fact and works exactly as he described. Also the term conspiracy theory was created and popularized by the CIA as a function to install into the general population as a protection mechanism against their own true and active operations, which as stated, are treasonous to America and American citizens. A useful tool for you might be to become self aware of your use of the term “conspiracy theo…

> Also the term conspiracy theory was created and popularized by the CIA as a function to install into the general population as a protection mechanism against their own true and active operations, which as stated, are treasonous to America and American citizens.

This is not true. The term is older, dating back to at least 1870, and was used then much in the way it is now [1]. The idea that it was coined by the CIA is an urban legend.

[1] https://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/nope_it_was_alwa...

Re: Tell HN: Google requiring phone number to log into Chromebook

#87

Post by henriquemaia »

toxik wrote: post #76
greenhatman wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't Apple do that too? One of the reasons I use Linux on my MacBook.

No. Why would you spread lies like that?

It's a question. The user saying that may be wrong in that assumption, but to counter assume intent of spreading a lie is a bit of stretch.

Re: Tell HN: Google requiring phone number to log into Chromebook

#88

Post by Guest9812398 »

fiblye wrote: post #52

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. 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. How did I get into my account? I…

I had a Gmail account for a secondary email address that I used at times. One day I logged in with my email and password, and Google said I needed to further verify my identity. Well, my security question was a bogus one because I was confident with my password manager and backups it would not be needed. But, I guess I was wrong, because I didn't anticipate that knowing the password wouldn't be enough for Google. I never got access to the account again.

Re: Tell HN: Google requiring phone number to log into Chromebook

#89

Post by grecy »

fiblye wrote: post #52

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. 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. How did I get into my account? I…

What on earth are those of us supposed to do that don't have a phone?

Re: Tell HN: Google requiring phone number to log into Chromebook

#90

Post by Tharkun »

JoshMnem wrote: post #14

Stop buying computers that require you to provide your identity to ad companies in order to use them.

While this is a good idea in principle, in this case it's a recent development. You can't really go back in time and unbuy it just because Google suddenly decides to be a(n even bigger) dick.
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