Android phones add the SIM's phone number to every signed-in Google account by default, Google's help pages show

Android phones automatically verify the phone number of their SIM card during setup and add it to every Google account signed in on the device, including work and secondary accounts, according to Google’s own support documentation.

Engadget reported on Saturday 24 October that many users only learned of the practice after receiving unprompted emails from Google telling them their number had been verified. Android Authority found that Google’s help page was changed between August and October 2025 to say the feature is on by default, and Engadget cited a Google Play services changelog dated 8 September 2025 listing automatic verification at setup.

Google’s help page says verified numbers are added “to all Google Accounts that are signed in on the device”, and that accounts or SIM cards added later are linked the same way. Google says verification supports features such as account recovery, RCS messaging in Google Messages, phone-number sign-in and finding a lost device. Google says it does not sell personal data, including phone numbers, Engadget reported.

Users can stop future linking in the phone’s settings under Google, All services, then Phone number verification, according to Google. Numbers already attached have to be removed from each account separately under Personal info and Phone. Engadget and the security company Kaspersky noted that turning verification off also disables RCS chats, which fall back to SMS, and quick account recovery by phone number.