Want Gmail? Best have your mobile handy Users signing up for a Gmail account are now being asked to provide a mobile-phone number in the continuing war against spam, though Google will keep it handy just in case anything else turns up. The new requirement pops up as part of the Gmail sign-up procedure, and requires the user to provide an SMS-capable number to which …
Step 1. Buy a 10 pounds (money, not weight) pay as you go phone.
Step 2. Sign up for Gmail account.
Step 3. ...
Step 4. Profit!
Someone didn't think this quite through.
alternatively: if you don't like someone (lets call him Dave), get his mobile number and repeatedly sign him up for google stuff... (automated spemmer tools should do the job nicely) 9-8000 texts later watch Dave tear his eyes out to stop the pain.
Anon, because good ideas always come back to haunt you.
How long before we get SMSinator then?
Just use their prefix 07xxx and any 6 numbers of your choice which you can login online to see the text messages for.
Could also allow PAC imports so a semi-decent and viable business model for those wishing to pay for a premium service.
Damn, I just gave this away for free!
Why does everything Google does require more and more of our data, and of course they will always tell us it wont be abused but we are increasingly left to just trust google.
They also have shown that they think themselves bigger than the government and can effectively obey laws selectively.
What do Virgin Media pass to Google? Since Virgin Media request your entire credit record at signup that means Google potentially know your name, address, date of birth, bank details, IP address, email address and search history; very valuable dataset that.
Complaint currently outstanding at the Information Commissioner, but I don't hold out much hope.
"Anyone know an e-mail provider that doesn't require your immortal soul?"
Yes - implement Internet RFC email standards and become your own email provider. If you want full control over your email identity and messages, as opposed to being marketing/identity fodder, then you'll need your own domain name, your own MTA program, and a server (hint: Linux virtual machines are cheap) plus a static IP address to run it on, in order to talk these email standard protocols. Either that or you get someone else, e.g. pay a techy friend or a small and good ISP to do this for you, but then you will have to be able to trust them not to abuse the long-term control over the identity your.prefix@their.domain gives them, or the ability to read your incoming messages. If you don't want to run your own server, better to start by registering and maintaining your own domain, because then at least you can relocate your own independent identity if your email/hosting provider gets less competitive or more intrusive than others.
it won't work at reducing the deluge of spam.
Spammers spoof addresses anyway, they don't use gmail.
sheesh.
Besides, Google's spam filter is one of the best. I do get plenty of spam sent to my gmail account but I never see any of it.
And they aren't getting my mobile number that's for sure.
I dont get it.
all you knobs out there moaning about Google's done this, Google's done that, oh i dont want my front garden on streetview, and now i have to use my mobile number for a free email account.
Its easy... DONT USE FUCKING GOOGLE
no one is forcing you to, there no compelling reason. there are literally thousands of email providers, or as one of you said, run your oen if your porn filled, viagra advertising, daily horoscope emails are that precious and private to YOU.
Get on with life - people are dying in the world.
Me, I love Google. Its great. Its fast, and they give it me for free.
Paris, cos she knows a good thing when shes got it.
Your "Someone didn't think this quite through" comment is deeply ironic.
If you seriously think spammers are going to be willing to invest £10 (or even a fraction of that) for a gmail account, you must have a pretty distorted view of how spammers work. You can buy paid email accounts for much less than that, so why on earth would they spend money to get a "free" account? They use free acounts because they are, you know, free. Google will certainly restrict the number of accounts that a number can be associated with, so this is a non-starter.
And as for abusing the process to grief "Dave" with texts, there are far easier ways to do that, so what would be the point? There are free online SMS portals, not to speak of various SMS spam services you could sign him up for. That's possibly the stupidest way I can think of to generate junk SMS messages. That's even assuming that Google would keep sending messages to the same number, and since Google probably have actually thought about this a bit, they might well not do that.
there are plenty of other email providers, so why don't the whingers just go an join them ? Is there some kind of law tht means that Google have to please you ?
As someone implied above, you are not paying for the service so don't come alll 'customer is right' about it - fgo somewhere else.
I have everything turned off but voice on my cell phone account. As I once explained to a mystified youth, "I don't want to have a relationship with my phone. I just want to talk to people."
I still get SMS messages from the uninformed, but they're empty. I have to call them, if I can discern who it is from, tell them not to do that anymore, what did they want, and, what the Hell was so problematic about using the same phone to actually call me and speak to me personally? Sheesh...
As 'Sergey' knows a large number of very large gentlemen who lack a sense of humour, it might be... unwise... to use his mobile number from anywhere where he might be able to identify.
Of course, if you can work out where 'Larry' hangs out, and set things up so that the spoofing of Sergey's number seems to come from Larry, that's alright, then.
Terminator, 'cause Sergey's boys absolutely will not stop, etc.
Absolutely Outrageous.
While I am all for measures for reducing spam, collecting this sort of info (especially by a monolith which practically owns the internet) is just plain wrong.
I will be seeking an alternative provider for my web based email and will be moving saved emails from my three gmail accounts over.
To hell with the Chocolate Factory - enough is enough.
So they want to check that the person signing up for a gmail acct is a real person. Since robots don't tend to have mobiles, this is a pretty robust way of sorting real people from the bots. It looks like it is only intended for the sign up process. If you change/cease your number it has no effect. They will retain your number for future reference, but won't pass it on under the T&Cs.
Where's the problem?
In any case, I gave my mobile number to google ages ago because I quite like having gmail pushed out to my phone using their activesync service. I certainly haven't noticed it being spammed.
That's a non-issue. A genuine, dyed-in-the-wool Luddite would have no truck with this new-fangled email thing, least of all this new-new-fangled web mail service idea, which is quite obviously the work of Satan.
Anyhow, it doesn't matter how many features you switch off. Owning something where the backlight doesn't involve tallow and a wick instantly rules you out as a Luddite.
At least you accept you are a luddie but come on.. a text is hardly the most complex or invasive thing to recieve. Personally, I prefer them as I dont feel compelled to pick up the phone when one comes in which you generally do with a call.
That said, i'm thinking all the moaners in this thread should;
A). Take their email requirements elsewhere.
B). STFU.
I'm incredibly keen in privacy but they're making a mountain out of a molehill and missing the obvious point that within their email accounts there is probably far more sensitive information than merely their mobile number.
You know.. the law that says a company cannot hold data for longer than required to provide the service?
So I can just send Google a DPA notice to provide me with all the data they hold on me, plus the reason they hold it. They send back a list including by life history. I point to the mobile number and say: you don't need that, delete it.
If they fail to delete it, they get prosecuted for data protection violation.
And I know Google have offices here in Eire, so they have to respond to an Irish court.
Facebook want to add pictures of me on ads they show to my friends now google want my phone number to use their service. I'm deeply suspicious of these companies at the end of the day the more personal information they know about you then more money they stand to make, I think this presents them with an inherent conflict of interests when it comes to user privacy. You just can't trust them, simple as that.
What's the big effin' secret? I've already given Google have my mobile number. I have had no marketing calls or SMSes of any kind. Google calendar uses my number to send me free SMS event reminders. I sometimes set one of these up when I think I might need an excuse to leave a tedious meeting.
"I still get SMS messages from the uninformed, but they're empty. I have to call them, if I can discern who it is from, tell them not to do that anymore, what did they want, and, what the Hell was so problematic about using the same phone to actually call me and speak to me personally? Sheesh..."
I can see where you're coming from but it just sounds like you're being deliberately obtuse.
Wouldn't it be much easier and less problematic to just allow your phone to receive text messages? As you're still going to receive blank messages even with SMS turned off. Might as well enable SMS so you can see the actual text and save yourself the trouble of winding up your friends.
The gain here is in the number of accounts you can create - it aims to block bulk email account creation, which makes spamming easier. And all those phone companies won't give you those sims totally free -you'll pay them with your name and address, and consent for marketing materials...
How about a different IT angle...?
In order to use a SIM, even a freebie, you still have to register with a service. On that basis, if the email account "idunno@gmail" was sending spam, the phone number could serve as extra source of information for the police to track and, thereby, address matters of "email courtesy and etiquitte" in the real world. Politely, of course. With the utmost restraint and (self-) control.
It may not help - some people change phone numbers as often as they do socks and emails can be spoofed. I would not want to become a "false-positive" either.
Depending upon the activity on the account (some criminals are criminally stupid), even a PAYG phone could be traced by top-ups and the method of payment for those top-ups. Following the money is fairly easy and it only takes one slip-up for the criminal to be spotted. If law enforcement are going to take the time and dig deep enough to find where the email actually came from, isn't about time they profitted from that effort and found someone they could convict in the real world?
"your number will never be sold or shared for marketing purposes without your permission, nor will we contact you using this number without your express permission".
Notice it doesn't say that Google themselves won't use it for their marketing and advertising purposes. Probably applies to their subsidiaries as well.
Use GMX.com instead. No effort and don't want your soul.
Some of are "of a certain vintage" and actually use mobile phones to conduct conversations rather than all these extra things like cutting apples, baking potatoes, and finding Virgins that seem to come as part of the load nowadays. Do Google give lessons on how to find this SMS thingy, then??
An alternative is to purchase your own DNS name and then sign up for the free edition of Google Apps. You do the verification by making modifications to your subdomain.
This, as of about a month ago, so it might have changed since. But hopefully not. Google can validate your domain name and your domain name registrar has verified you by credit card payment.
Downside? It's a bit ... ok a lot ... more "technical" to do it this way and it takes a while longer to get mail up and running. On the plus side, if Google ever lets you down, you can point your MX record at any other e-mail provider that you wish to move to. And you get to choose your own domain name. Pretty good value for £1.50 p.a.
> "You might have thought that once the authentication has been received Google wouldn't need to hang onto your mobile number, but you'd have thought wrong:"
Well, actually I would have thought they would want to hang onto it and i'm astounded that your suggesting otherwise.
If for no other reason than to make sure you hadn't used it to create 1500 accounts. I mean seriously! You'd have to be a complete idiot to discard that data so someone can then use the same telephone number ad infinitum for creating new accounts.
If all of the free providers would do this then it would reduce the number of spam emails I receive to practically nothing. Practically the only spam emails that get to my inbox at the moment are from free account providers thanks to greylisting so i'm all in favour of anything reducing that number yet further.
"Your number will also be associated with your account to avoid unnecessary future verifications for other Google services", though the Do-No-Evil company does clarify: "your number will never be sold or shared for marketing purposes without your permission, nor will we contact you using this number without your express permission".
So that's OK then"
=====
Not like The Register eh?
"Yes - implement Internet RFC email standards and become your own email provider."
Actually its not quite that simple. Often this doesn't work using a static IP on a DSL line because you find your mailserver sitting in the middle of a blacklisted IP block thanks to zombie originated spam spewing from 0wn3d machines connected to the net via residential DSL lines world wide.
I run a home email server on a residential cable line. You still have to use someone else's SMTP server if you do this (I use an NTL one) as emails from residential IP addresses get bounced regularly.
Webmail-wise I've found Freeserve / Wanadoo / Orange (yes, I've been with them that long) to be pretty good, with excellent spam filter.
Paranoid much?
Google are providing an excellent FREE email service - don't like ads, then don't look at them, or use POP to pick up the mail in Thunderbird then you'll never, ever be exposed to the evil advertising.
Don't want to give them your mobile number, simple, pay a pound for a sim from the local pound shop, use that to receive the sign up code then burn the sim, just in case google can track your whereabouts using the number...
If this is indeed true, it will not work as advertised for, off the top of my head, a couple of reasons.
Firstly, not everyone *gasp* has a number capable of received SMS messages. I was initially going to say "not everyone has a mobile phone," which is true unto itself, but I know several people who, while owning mobiles, have their SMS deactived.
Secondly, verifying an account via SMS by no means guarantees a spammer-free account, let alone a non-automated sign up. Remember that captchas were intended for the same thing, and instead created a whole sub-industry of sweatshops which do nothing but decode them. The same will happen with the SMS idea, or a phone call (vis-a-vis Google Voice.)
I do not see any reason why a valid email account is any different for validation purposes than an SMS, phone call, etc., and is also less intrusive. Hell, they could just fax out verification -- that would throw abusers for a loop and create a run on old fax machines on eBay, etc.
Paris, creating a whole sub-industry of sweatshops.
eg. in comments above somewhere:
" Is there some kind of law tht means that Google have to please you ?
As someone implied above, you are not paying for the service so don't come alll 'customer is right' about it - fgo somewhere else."
In case you hadn't realised we ARE the customers and we ARE right. Google's revenue stream is not cash in hand but through advertising. If we aren't there then Google isn't either.
Just because it's free to us doesn't mean that it's everything good and great in the world, in fact it may become the opposite.
Imagine Larry emailing Sergey about the patch of Liberty Caps in his neighbours field that he thinks they should try, or about the anti war/paedophilia/society demonstration they are going to next week. Imagine this in 10 years when all our emails are actively scanned and flagged in real time and le Government breaks down your door and your skull a few hours later (or maybe rings you up and says naughty naughty).
This post has been deleted by its author
Use another service. Whoever said it won't reduce spam - you're wrong. Adding the mobile phone, human element to the sign-up procedure will eliminate bot generated accounts (at least for a while) that are leveraged for distributing spam. Whoever said, "hello phone spam" - that already exists. To suggest that a philanthropic org like Google would go out on such an obvious, detrimental limb is just plain retarded. Most of us use our mobiles for the majority of our phone communication and understand the risks involved. Go live on a mountain with just a goat and your loin cloth if you're so naive as to think that worse companies who haven't even asked for your mobile number aren't already abusing it.
As I told the cellular provider customer service rep, "I don't want to be charged for something I accidentally did." I know that convergence is just around the corner and soon our PC will be our cell phone, but I only got the damned thing so I could call my wife if I was stuck in traffic on the way home so she wouldn't worry about me. I don't need text messages, web browsers, email, etc. Hell, I've never even bought a ringtone. I never intend to, either...
BTW - considering you get charged for receiving a call, I'd be surprised if they didn't charge you for _receiving_ an SMS message.
And if one does not wish for googlemail even if it is rebranded by your isp worry not?
Q: ever hated, dreaded, sweated or shirked at the prospect of changing ISP because yiu gotta sort out your email addresses all over again?
A: yeh - too rite m8. And for the rest of the family too!
Q: wannabee big daddy email boss able to set up as many email addresses as you want using your own dedicated domain name? IMAP or POP?
A: Hey! Dats 2 kwestyunz? Yes or maybe No to the first and don't know about the second.
Well, you see. Using email addresses on YOUR domain means you can change ISP without a worry regarding your email addresses.
[shock! horror!]
And yes, you might not know the difference about IMAP and POP but I bet you've spent ages looking for that email on the laptop only to find out it was on the upstairs computer.
[how did you kno that dood?]
Well, you could set up your own domain, web. emails, ...
[cannot do dood as in C-A-N-N-O-T don't want the complicayshunz or expense]
DECISION POINT
Those will to remain in CANNOT DO mentality remain here and do nothing
For the rest you might do a whole lot worse than tootlin over to, say. one.com register your domain and set up your emails (for 0.00 GBP for first 12 months = worth the effort yes?)
I just decided to set up a new account for shits to see if this was for real and it is. I'm over here in the states and I'm guessing that it may not be worldwide yet. Or something to do with the EU privacy laws why you may not have it there yet.
Cant be assed with a screen of it but you can read up on the FAQ they have about this here:
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=114129#nophone
Personally I am curious as to what would happen if say my 14 yo sister went to sign up and doesn't have a phone and the parents don't want to get SMS about stuff. should be interesting.
On a side note I have had a gmail account for years now and never added a phone number to it nor have I been asked. Little curious as to why they assume I am legit just because I had an account before this went active.
/Frag cause I can see this one blowing up in their faces.
This is very easy to do, I did it years ago and I haven't looked back since:
1. Go to a domain registrar (I use planetdomain.com.au), and create an account - you only need a username and password.
2. Enter a domain name into their search box and check availability until one you like comes up available.
3. Follow the simple online instructions to register it (you'll need a credit card of course!)
4. Go to a web hosting provider (I use quadrahosting.com.au) and sign up for a basic account (about AUD$10 a month)
5. Log in to your hosting provider account and use the control panel to add a new domain. Type in the domain name you just registered. When the domain is created, note down all the nameservers (usually something like "ns1.hostingprovider.com", "ns2.hostingprovider.com".)
6. Use the control panel to add an email address to your domain. Type in the name@yourdomain.com or whatever and a password.
7. Log back into your domain registrar account and go to the DNS management page for the domain you just registered.
8. In the nameserver boxes, type the nameservers you copied from your hosting provider - make sure you add all the nameservers (at least two) that were listed. This is called "delegating" the domain.
9. It might take a day or so for the domain name to be associated with the nameservers while all the DNS around the world are updated with the information. I've never seen it take more than a couple of hours myself.
10. In your Thunderbird or Outlook Express or whatever, create a new mail account. Type the username and password you set up when you created the mail account on your domain. The POP3 and SMTP servers will usually be "mail.yourdomain.com" or whatever you registered.
11. Done! You now have your own domain with unlimited email addresses. Provide one each for all your family and friends.
You also now have your own website. Go and install Joomla or Wordpress on your domain to quickly set up your own blog, which you and you alone have complete control over, and nobody can (legally) take your content and and use it in ads (like facebook) or indeed anything else. You can even set up additional blogs for your family and friends with their own subdomains (like mum.yourdomain.com, dave.yourdomain.com, etc, as many as you want) complete with whatever access restrictions you like, to make your domain into a mini-facebook without all the privacy invasion just for you and yours!
How daft is this, does Google think Spammers are nice people that follow the rules?
I just got around this in exactly the same way I get around google requiring UK users use googlemail rather than Gmail. It took less than 60 seconds and I then created an account with no mobile phone request.
Email me using david palmer24 at hotmail dot co dot uk if you want to know how or if you want me to create one for you.
Honestly what a waste of time.
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