If you keep a work or spare Google account on your Android phone, your personal number may now be attached to it. Google's Android Help page says phone number verification is on by default and adds your numbers to every Google Account signed in on the device.

What changed

Google's help page says, "On your device, phone number verification is turned on by default. We verify the phone number and add them to all Google Accounts that are signed in on the device." It adds that this "applies to both current and future accounts and phone numbers."

Android Authority (Aamir Siddiqui, Oct. 14) reports the setting links the number to secondary, work and throwaway accounts with no confirmation prompt. It says the report began with a Reddit thread, and that Google changed its support page between August and October. As of Oct. 15, Google's page shows no change date.

How to turn it off

Menus vary by phone. This is the path on Google's help page:

  1. Open your phone's Settings app.
  2. Select Google, then All services.
  3. Under "Privacy & security," select Phone number verification.
  4. Choose not to verify your phone number. Android Authority names the switch "Verify phone numbers automatically."

Google says you can turn verification off at any time, and that it can be managed only in device settings.

How to remove numbers already linked

Turning the setting off only stops future linking, Android Authority reports. Repeat these steps for each account on the phone:

  1. Go to myaccount.google.com and sign in to the account.
  2. Select Personal info.
  3. Under "Contact info," select Phone.
  4. Open the number to look for a remove option. As of Oct. 15, Google's help page does not describe removal, and the controls may differ.

What is reported but unconfirmed

Android Authority says some users received emails from [email protected] saying their number was verified. Its own staff did not get the emails, but several found the toggle already on.

Some Reddit users say the toggle turns itself back on, Android Authority reports. It could not reproduce that, so it is unconfirmed. As of Oct. 14, it said Google had not commented.

Why it matters

Our assessment: anyone who kept a personal number off a work or spare account loses that separation, and Google's page says new accounts added later inherit every number on the phone. The numbers stay on each account until removed there.