3 ms·

Ask HN: What to do when websites ask for cell number to create login?

6 points by fosco 10y ago

This is becoming more and more common and now The ssa is requiring it to access my account, how can I avoid giving it out?

jacquesm 10y ago
Find a competitor. I only give my cell # to parties with a good reputation that I have to do business with.
- eecks 10y ago
  What about sites that require second auth with a mobile device?
duncanawoods 10y ago
I'm finding existing sites I've used for a long time nagging hard for my number. I'm guessing that its used in their ad tracking which is why they are damaging their user experience demanding it so furiously in order to squeeze the green out my eyeballs.
- detaro 10y ago
  What use has your cellphone number for ad tracking?
  - sharmi 10y ago
    Your cellphone number has the power to be 'the' unifying factor for different profiles that you maintain online. For example, I have multiple user ids in google for each of my businesses but I give them all my same phone number for the purpose of recovery. Now gmail does not have to do too much effort to equate the owner of all this accounts to be one person. Now assume, you give the same number to linked, facebook and google. Now you no longer need complex machine learning algorithms to match your profiles across platforms. The unified profile has all your commercial, personal and career info in one place. Ad trackers will love that! If you use the cell number in walmart etc, thats an added bonus. More importantly: Most people will have multiple email accounts but rarely more than one cell number. So it is much easier to identify the individual.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
sotojuan 10y ago
Google Voice?
twunde 10y ago
It's definitely worthwhile to understand why a site is asking for your phone number. At the company I work at, we require a phone number because a lot of our customer's don't have email addresses and/or have given us a bad email such as no@email.com. We use it to contact customers in collections BEFORE the bad things happen like shutting off your power. Some sites will use your phone for two-factor auth although I doubt you're complaining about those sites. Many SAAS companies will ask for your phone number so they can upsell you. The good news is that there are some options if you don't want to give out your phone number. 1) Give out a fake phone number such as 555-555-5555. This works assuming you don't need to verify the phone number. 2) Sign up for a google voice account and pick a phone number. You can get texts and receive voice mail and read them through email or by going to google.com/voice
Esau 10y ago
If it a website for a company I already do business with in some way, I don't have a problem with it, but otherwise I close the browser window.
bradknowles 10y ago
Use "burner" to create a virtual phone number for just that site, and configure it to forward wherever you want. Done. Same deal with credit cards -- use privacy.com.

6 points by fosco 10y ago

This is becoming more and more common and now The ssa is requiring it to access my account, how can I avoid giving it out?

jacquesm 10y ago

Find a competitor. I only give my cell # to parties with a good reputation that I have to do business with.

eecks 10y ago
What about sites that require second auth with a mobile device?

duncanawoods 10y ago

I'm finding existing sites I've used for a long time nagging hard for my number. I'm guessing that its used in their ad tracking which is why they are damaging their user experience demanding it so furiously in order to squeeze the green out my eyeballs.

detaro 10y ago
What use has your cellphone number for ad tracking?
- sharmi 10y ago
  Your cellphone number has the power to be 'the' unifying factor for different profiles that you maintain online. For example, I have multiple user ids in google for each of my businesses but I give them all my same phone number for the purpose of recovery. Now gmail does not have to do too much effort to equate the owner of all this accounts to be one person. Now assume, you give the same number to linked, facebook and google. Now you no longer need complex machine learning algorithms to match your profiles across platforms. The unified profile has all your commercial, personal and career info in one place. Ad trackers will love that! If you use the cell number in walmart etc, thats an added bonus. More importantly: Most people will have multiple email accounts but rarely more than one cell number. So it is much easier to identify the individual.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

sotojuan 10y ago

Google Voice?

twunde 10y ago

It's definitely worthwhile to understand why a site is asking for your phone number. At the company I work at, we require a phone number because a lot of our customer's don't have email addresses and/or have given us a bad email such as no@email.com. We use it to contact customers in collections BEFORE the bad things happen like shutting off your power. Some sites will use your phone for two-factor auth although I doubt you're complaining about those sites. Many SAAS companies will ask for your phone number so they can upsell you. The good news is that there are some options if you don't want to give out your phone number. 1) Give out a fake phone number such as 555-555-5555. This works assuming you don't need to verify the phone number. 2) Sign up for a google voice account and pick a phone number. You can get texts and receive voice mail and read them through email or by going to google.com/voice

Esau 10y ago

If it a website for a company I already do business with in some way, I don't have a problem with it, but otherwise I close the browser window.

bradknowles 10y ago

Use "burner" to create a virtual phone number for just that site, and configure it to forward wherever you want. Done. Same deal with credit cards -- use privacy.com.