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I am banned from GitHub because I didn't want to give them my phone number. They ignored a legally binding GDPR request to delete all my data. I haven't got aro

I am banned from GitHub because I didn't want to give them my phone number. They ignored a legally binding GDPR request to delete all my data. I haven't got around to suing them yet. Recently I also got "rate limited" after opening about three web pages. Microsoft can do something to you, and that is to arbitrarily deny you access after you've built a dependence on it, and then make you jump through hoops to get access back.

LadyCailin 2y ago
This is kind of a weird hill to die on, but you’re well within your rights, so you do you. However, it is clearly not correct to say that you were banned from GitHub. It’s like saying “I was banned from Google because I refuse to use computing devices.” Not really a ban, just self flagellation, which, again, whatever works for you.
- immibis 2y ago
  Give me your social security number or you may not reply to my comments. If you don't give me your social security number, choosing instead to die on this weird hill, it's not correct to say you're banned - you're merely self-flagellating.
  - LadyCailin 2y ago
    A phone number given to a generally reputable company is hardly equivalent to giving a rando your social security number. I mean, obviously you disagree with them being generally reputable, but you must realize that’s not a broad opinion, and they are certainly better at preventing data breaches than the average company that stores phone numbers. Sincerely though, I hope you get your GDPR request sorted.
    - fsflover 2y ago
      > generally reputable company Are you talking about Microsoft here? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft#Controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft#Controversies
      - LadyCailin 2y ago
        Hence the qualifier “generally”. I’m not saying they’re above reproach, but I am saying that companies that care far less about data security already have my phone number, such as most/all of my utilities - including my phone company. And those aren’t realistically optional.
        fsflover 2y ago
        > companies that care far less about data security already have my phone number ... including my phone company. Far less than these? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40592789 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40592789 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12305598 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12305598 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft#Privacy_issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft#Privacy... This is unlikely.
        Dylan16807 2y ago
        The bar is a lot lower than you think.
        fsflover 2y ago
        Tell me more. Meanwhile: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43993076 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43993076
        baobun 2y ago
        > but I am saying that companies that care far less about data security already have my phone number Not mine and it sucks that this means I'm not welcome as FireFox contributor anymore unless I move countries just to register a monthly contract for a dedicated GitHub-accepted SIM card. Once you trigger phone-number verification requirement your account is globally shadowbanned and support blocked pending SMS code verification. Aside from the privacy issue it's completely blocking people in the several countries (beyond the ones offially totally banned due to sanctions) to which GitHub won't even try to SMS/call. Remember that registering a second account would be violating GitHub ToS.
  - GabrielTFS 2y ago
    This seems like a poor argument. I don't like much either having the obligation to give GitHub my phone number, but it's not the same thing as a social security number, now is it ? Would you argue otherwise ?
    - baobun 2y ago
      Not US but phone number is arguably worse: You can't legally get one without tying it to govt ID anymore and tends to be tied to your current physical location.
      - IIsi50MHz 2y ago
        And is commonly used for authentication codes, and like Social Security Number, it is PII that should be default-deny. Github seems to have no legit need for a user's phone number. Since there's not even a way to tell them to go pound sand, I'd say opting out of disclosing sensitive information they don't need by not signing in/up and equating their unreasonable demand with a ban is respectable.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
alabastervlog 2y ago
> Recently I also got "rate limited" after opening about three web pages. People who haven’t used it logged out recently may be surprised to find that they have, for some time, made the site effectively unusable without an account. Doing one search and clicking a couple results gets you temporarily blocked. It’s effectively an account-required website now.
- hedora 2y ago
  Thanks. I didn’t realize that. Migrating repos tonight.
- birdman3131 2y ago
  I have never noticed that and am rarely logged in.
  - alabastervlog 2y ago
    Weird. Maybe it just hates my last two ISPs (Google Fiber, Frontier). The usual way I notice I'm not logged in is by getting blocked after interacting with ~3 different parts of the site within a minute. If I search, click a single repo, and stay in that repo without using search, it seems to go OK, but if I interact with search and then a couple repos, or search again, temp-banned.
    - aabbcc1241 1y ago
      I made a search index for github repo [1] because it takes quite some time for github to load the repositories page (which is the page to allow searching), And sometimes even using the exact repo name in Google search, I cannot see the corresponding (non-popular) repo. [1] https://res-index.hkit.cc https://res-index.hkit.cc
- fu-hn 2y ago
  They no longer allow sorting by number of stars in the search without being logged in either.
baobun 2y ago
At least you had the choice. Many potential contributors live in countries to which GitHub does not support SMS verification but still requires it. So there's a second tier of effectively blocked countries besides the officially sanctioned ones.
extraduder_ire 2y ago
When did they ask you for a phone number? Last github account I set up back at the end of February didn't ask for one and does the mandatory 2fa step using a code sent via email. This might be a country-dependant thing.
- hedora 2y ago
  They nagged me for a year for a phone number, threatening lockout. I finally gave in, so they almost immediately started nagging me to disable SMS 2FA because it is insecure.
glandium 2y ago
You don't need a Github account to `git clone https://github.com/some/repo https://github.com/some/repo`

LadyCailin 2y ago

This is kind of a weird hill to die on, but you’re well within your rights, so you do you. However, it is clearly not correct to say that you were banned from GitHub. It’s like saying “I was banned from Google because I refuse to use computing devices.” Not really a ban, just self flagellation, which, again, whatever works for you.

immibis 2y ago
Give me your social security number or you may not reply to my comments. If you don't give me your social security number, choosing instead to die on this weird hill, it's not correct to say you're banned - you're merely self-flagellating.
- LadyCailin 2y ago
  A phone number given to a generally reputable company is hardly equivalent to giving a rando your social security number. I mean, obviously you disagree with them being generally reputable, but you must realize that’s not a broad opinion, and they are certainly better at preventing data breaches than the average company that stores phone numbers. Sincerely though, I hope you get your GDPR request sorted.
  - fsflover 2y ago
    > generally reputable company Are you talking about Microsoft here? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft#Controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft#Controversies
    - LadyCailin 2y ago
      Hence the qualifier “generally”. I’m not saying they’re above reproach, but I am saying that companies that care far less about data security already have my phone number, such as most/all of my utilities - including my phone company. And those aren’t realistically optional.
      - fsflover 2y ago
        > companies that care far less about data security already have my phone number ... including my phone company. Far less than these? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40592789 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40592789 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12305598 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12305598 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft#Privacy_issues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Microsoft#Privacy... This is unlikely.
        Dylan16807 2y ago
        The bar is a lot lower than you think.
        fsflover 2y ago
        Tell me more. Meanwhile: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43993076 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43993076
      - baobun 2y ago
        > but I am saying that companies that care far less about data security already have my phone number Not mine and it sucks that this means I'm not welcome as FireFox contributor anymore unless I move countries just to register a monthly contract for a dedicated GitHub-accepted SIM card. Once you trigger phone-number verification requirement your account is globally shadowbanned and support blocked pending SMS code verification. Aside from the privacy issue it's completely blocking people in the several countries (beyond the ones offially totally banned due to sanctions) to which GitHub won't even try to SMS/call. Remember that registering a second account would be violating GitHub ToS.
- GabrielTFS 2y ago
  This seems like a poor argument. I don't like much either having the obligation to give GitHub my phone number, but it's not the same thing as a social security number, now is it ? Would you argue otherwise ?
  - baobun 2y ago
    Not US but phone number is arguably worse: You can't legally get one without tying it to govt ID anymore and tends to be tied to your current physical location.
    - IIsi50MHz 2y ago
      And is commonly used for authentication codes, and like Social Security Number, it is PII that should be default-deny. Github seems to have no legit need for a user's phone number. Since there's not even a way to tell them to go pound sand, I'd say opting out of disclosing sensitive information they don't need by not signing in/up and equating their unreasonable demand with a ban is respectable.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

alabastervlog 2y ago

> Recently I also got "rate limited" after opening about three web pages. People who haven’t used it logged out recently may be surprised to find that they have, for some time, made the site effectively unusable without an account. Doing one search and clicking a couple results gets you temporarily blocked. It’s effectively an account-required website now.

hedora 2y ago
Thanks. I didn’t realize that. Migrating repos tonight.
birdman3131 2y ago
I have never noticed that and am rarely logged in.
- alabastervlog 2y ago
  Weird. Maybe it just hates my last two ISPs (Google Fiber, Frontier). The usual way I notice I'm not logged in is by getting blocked after interacting with ~3 different parts of the site within a minute. If I search, click a single repo, and stay in that repo without using search, it seems to go OK, but if I interact with search and then a couple repos, or search again, temp-banned.
  - aabbcc1241 1y ago
    I made a search index for github repo [1] because it takes quite some time for github to load the repositories page (which is the page to allow searching), And sometimes even using the exact repo name in Google search, I cannot see the corresponding (non-popular) repo. [1] https://res-index.hkit.cc https://res-index.hkit.cc
fu-hn 2y ago
They no longer allow sorting by number of stars in the search without being logged in either.

baobun 2y ago

At least you had the choice. Many potential contributors live in countries to which GitHub does not support SMS verification but still requires it. So there's a second tier of effectively blocked countries besides the officially sanctioned ones.

extraduder_ire 2y ago

When did they ask you for a phone number? Last github account I set up back at the end of February didn't ask for one and does the mandatory 2fa step using a code sent via email. This might be a country-dependant thing.

hedora 2y ago
They nagged me for a year for a phone number, threatening lockout. I finally gave in, so they almost immediately started nagging me to disable SMS 2FA because it is insecure.

glandium 2y ago

You don't need a Github account to `git clone https://github.com/some/repo https://github.com/some/repo`