[eternityforest]

I never thought of the whole idea of wanting to hide my number from them, and I suspect most other users haven't either, but it does seem like an issue once you think about it.

It might have something to do with not wanting to have tons of spam accounts out there? Do they have code to keep a closer eye on unverified accounts?

Or preventing broken devices from locking people out, in a "We must protect users from themselves" kind of way?

Google is a mass market company, clearly not a privacy company, anyone who really wants to not be constantly tracked should probably stay away for many more reasons than this.