[Chat] [Discussion] Now you need to give a cell phone number to have a Yahoo email account

[John]

Gmail also asks for a mobile phone number supposedly for verification purposes. I had already provided one when I obtained a google voice number 4 or 5 years ago. So far I haven't experienced any solicitations.

John

On Dec 24, 2013, at 10:51 AM, "Stephen J Gewirtz" <gewirtz at bellatlantic.net> wrote:

> I just tried to reinstate an old Yahoo email account that I have not accessed for ages.  It told me I needed to give a mobile phone number.  At that point, I quit trying to recreate my account.
> 
> I tried to recreate my account because my wife had suddenly lost access to her Yahoo email account.  I got emails (since she had given my email as an emergency contact) telling her to verify her account.  It turned out I think that what they wanted was to verify her mobile phone number.  This they did, and hopefully her Yahoo email account will work again.
> 
> Big Brother is watching!  My guess is that Yahoo wants to sell mobile phone numbers to advertisers.  And I have now twice received calls soliciting money on my cell phone, so I know that that is the next big thing, especially to reach the younger folk who do not have landlines.  It was illegal to telemarket to a cell phone,  but maybe that is changing.  And I get enough junk telemarketers on my landline, especially the phishing calls telling me I can get a better rate on my credit card and ones trying to market emergency call devices to seniors.
> 
> Big Brother is not necessarily the government.  We are very much seeing how Google, Facebook, Amazon and Yahoo track us.
> 
> Steve
> 
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