Google has introduced a phone number verification feature on Android that automatically links multiple accounts to a single device number. The process occurs without explicit user consent, affecting personal, work, and secondary accounts logged into the same device.
Users reported discovering the linkage after receiving verification emails from noreply-phone-verification@google.com. According to Google, the system is designed to periodically verify device numbers to improve communication and account recovery capabilities.
While the feature simplifies identity verification across Google services, it raises privacy concerns for users who prefer to keep their professional and personal identities separate. The automatic association of multiple accounts under one phone number complicates data isolation.
To disable the feature, users must navigate to Settings, select Google, then Privacy and Security, and toggle off the automatic phone number verification. However, disabling this setting only prevents future associations; existing links must be removed manually from each account's contact information page.
Some users reported that the toggle automatically re-enables itself after being turned off. Android Authority attempted to verify this behavior but could not reproduce the issue and has requested further clarification from Google.
