And they're probably making mistakes too. It's amazing how many data merges happen out there that result in wrong data. Not too long ago my credit card company sent me a new card overnight because of fraud, but they didn't send it to me, they sent it to a family member of my ex wife's. I've been divorced over 20 years now and I never even lived there. But the CC company decided to merge their data with other data and fucked up somewhere along the way.

how to stop them

stock android is still plenty usable without google accounts.

Using Google services and being concerned about privacy is like asking an arsonist to guard your property from fires.

Quick, everyone update you're phone number to 111-111-1111

Don't. Use. Sim. Cards.

Step 1: Open the Settings app, tap on Google (or Google services), then switch to the All services tab. Navigate to Phone number verification under the Privacy and security section and toggle off Verify phone numbers automatically.

According to some of our readers, disabling phone number verification doesn’t persist; the toggle is back on after a while. I haven’t encountered this situation, but let’s hope future fixes ensure that no one runs into issues with their preferred settings. Phone number verification interface in Google settings

Step 2: If you want to perform a phone number audit, tap your Google Account profile in the same interface (which shows your name, email address, and profile photo), then select Manage your Google Account. You can also go to myaccount.google.com on your phone or computer to do the same.

Select Personal info and remove any phone numbers that are not yours or not in use. On the Phone number interface, check whether your phone number is linked to devices you don’t recognize and remove them. "This is an opportunity to audit all your sync settings and subscriptions."

Step 3 (optional): As you’re at it, take a quick look at the other sections to review your sign-in sessions in Security and sign-in, manage app data sharing in Linked apps, and so on. It’s optional, but this is an opportunity to audit all your sync settings and subscriptions. Google account passkeys interface

Step 4 (optional): You can switch from SMS 2FA to Google Authenticator or passkeys to reduce the risks of SMS-based attacks. To do this, in the Security and Sign in interface, tap 2-Step Verification and set up Google Authenticator or Passkeys following the on-screen instructions.

Step 5 (advanced): To completely separate your Google accounts, you can set up multiple users on a single device — but note that this is for security enthusiasts. With automatic phone number verification disabled, this step provides additional protection by isolating one account’s digital footprint from another’s, reducing the risk of future cross-account attacks.

To do this on a Pixel, navigate to Settings > System > Multiple users, turn on Allow multiple users, and tap on Add user to set it up.

Let’s be real, we’ve known since the late 2010s phone numbers were a major risk to privacy and anonymity on the Internet.

People ignored it out of convenience.

They shouldn't be doing this but if you're running Android it shouldn't be surprising

reminder not to take the bait of linking your phone at stores for 'benefits'

yall already knew this but it's nice to say anyways