Comment by throw10920 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by throw10920 | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

This is an explanation for why Google might ask for phone numbers. This is not an explanation for why Google might require phone numbers.

The only valid reasons for the latter are (1) to collect your PII and/or (2) because they think that they know better than you and they're going to force you to do a thing because they think it's in your best interests - in other words, a tyrant ruling over a techno-feudalistic society.

If Google was really concerned only for the safety of their users, and not trying to obtain PII for their personal use, they would build an opt-out button, something that would allow users to print out a one-time-use password/encryption key, or register an alternate email address, in lieu of providing a phone number. They don't.

Your explanation doesn't hold water.

Why might Google require it?

It adds an external cost to creating an account. I imagine this is incredibly valuable in fighting spam across all of their services. No coincidence, the phone number requirement is the only reason I don't have several disposable twitter, Facebook, and Google accounts.

> a tyrant ruling over a techno-feudalistic society

It's an email app. There are many other options.

Google is, uh, not just email.

https://about.google/products/

The topic of the post was email. Even expanding to every other product, which ones are you forced to use? Just pick another one.

Calling this feudalism is a bit much.

Email was just an example. Topic is about account.

If I understood his post and overall point correctly, he doesn’t think that it’s that second possibility — that Google is a benevolent tyrant, essentially — but that that’s the only other explanation, which is bad.

(I agree that the language he used was a bit much, but I think he was using exaggeration as a legitimate literary device to make his point, not in an attempt to actually mischaracterize that scenario.)

He think it’s the first possibility — that Google is doing it for reasons other than the users’ best interests (i.e. “nefarious purposes”) — which is even worse.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com