I think it means that if you sign into google from your PC, then it’ll send a code to your phone that you need to enter in the 2nd step to prove it’s you. My email from them said I’ll have to keep my phone handy when using the PC.
I recently had a creepy moment from work. I got a notification that I had to turn on password on my phone lock screen.
This is my personal phone and its never been signed into the Network at work. They have wireless but I’ve never logged into it. I use cellular connection at work.
All I do is setup Gmail at work.
It’s extremely creepy to find out that tiny email connection to work lets them snoop on my phone.
I’m even more pissed that Google facilitates this loss of privacy.
I don’t have any choice. I need to check work email. I turned on a password on my lock screen.
As I understand it, Google considers recognizing the device as one you’ve used before to be a factor. So it usually won’t matter (aside from when you get a new device).
You need to be able to receive texts. And even that might not actually be necessary: They probably have an option to give you a voice call with a robot reading off digits.
I use it. When I sign in anywhere except my phone, if I don’t have cookies enabled, I have to open Gmail on my phone and wait a second or two for a “Is this you? Yes/No” page to automatically come up and I just press “yes.” It’s definitely annoying, but it’s less annoying than endless captchas or “go to this website and type in this code.”
I recently lost a Google account I have had for multiple years. I had only accessed it from phones and tablets for around three years. Never had a problem adding a new device to it in the past. But a few weeks ago my then-current phone suddenly died. Bought a new one, tried to connect it to the same account, it demanded authorization using a phone number that I hadn’t used in years (and hadn’t thought to update) or signing in with another device. I tried two older retired phones that were already on the account, but got the same demand.
What I’m wondering is what do the folks who don’t have phones with texting capability do? Yes, I know it’s not likely in this day and age that you’ll have a computer but not a smart phone, but it could happen.
I’ve told my work that unless they’re paying for the phone, I will not install any work apps or access anything work related from my phone. The holding company that owns us insists that if you use a personal device to do work and you leave the company, they get to reset it to factory settings.
Uhm. That’s a hard no from me. You want me connected that much, you wanna erase it, you get to buy it and pay for the subscription.
(This is not likely to happen. I don’t have a job that requires someone be able to contact me 24x7. I wouldn’t accept a job like that, either.)
If you add your work Google account to a phone (with Gmail for example) your company can require certain access to your phone: password unlock, 6-digit PIN, remote wipe, etc.
It’s not a Google-specific feature. Any phone that supports enterprise email does this.
Newer versions of Android let you create a work profile that is separate from your normal profile. This limits your work’s access to the rest of your phone.