[gausswho]

Right? It's simultaneously becoming a unique identifier for aggregating a profile about you across the web as well as the way your account is snatched away from you. What cools my cockles is how not all phone numbers are allowed (VOIP, prepaid).

When sites ask for a phone number what they are really saying is: give us this identifier that you can only acquire with a government-issued ID and a paid up ransom to a telecom. And if you later stop paying the ransom we can hand over your account to anyone who picks up the payment.