A spokesperson of Google India has claimed that the mention of phone number was optional until now but repeated attempts to create a new email ID on Gmail by skipping the mobile number requirement failed. The Gmail website has been quoted saying that “In an effort to protect our users from abuse, we sometimes ask users to prove they’re not a robot before they’re able to create or sign in to accounts. Having this additional confirmation via phone is an effective way to keep spammers from abusing our systems.” Meanwhile, Yahoo spokesperson said that “At Yahoo, we are committed to the security of our users. We ask our users to provide their mobile number at registration as a secondary means of authentication, in addition to their password. We would only use the number if we see any unusual activity on the account.” Internet Service Providers Association of India has criticized the move by the companies and said that there is no regulatory requirement to mention the telephone number while creating an email address. The Association added that this move is likely to expose privacy of an individual.
