Survey reveals trust in Google has taken a big hit after this quiet Android change

Some of the best features on your phone are the ones that work quietly in the background. However, there’s a fine line between making your life easier and making decisions on your behalf, and Google’s approach to automatically verifying phone numbers on Android raises questions about which side of that line it’s on. We recently asked readers whether the practice affects their faith in Google’s services, and the results are in.

While this Android phone verification has been in place for some time, it came to the fore when spotlighted in a much-upvoted Reddit post last week. Google automatically verifies your phone number and links it to every Google account signed in on your Android device, including secondary and work accounts, without explicitly asking for your permission. …