Google is quietly linking your phone number to other Android accounts

Google is quietly linking your phone number to other Android accounts

Android phones have been quietly attaching their SIM phone number to every signed-in Google account on the device since September 2025, and many users are only now discovering it through unprompted verification emails. The setting is on by default during setup and applies to existing and future accounts, including work and secondary profiles, with periodic re-verification that can trigger carrier charges. Google says the practice enables account recovery, RCS messaging, device location and Quick Share, but it has not explained why the number must be added to every account rather than just one. The link also feeds a separate ads setting that uses phone numbers across Google services to show more relevant ads, though Google states it does not sell personal data. Users can turn off automatic verification in Android settings, but numbers already attached must be removed manually from each account, and disabling the feature downgrades RCS chats to standard SMS. The change arrives as Google tests a policy in select regions that cuts free storage for new accounts from 15 gigabytes to 5 unless a phone number is linked.