I can see why everyone is so happy, but something to note is the erosion of privacy. You you wont be able to use a gmail account without a phone.
In countries(China) where you need your id to get even a prepay phone there will no longer be any anominity.
Top this off with the fact that google doesn't say how often or if at all whether they give information to the chinese government because its against the law in China for them to say so.
State secrecy and all.
I personally think this should be optional and not mandatory. Otherwise I will stop using all of googles account services.
It is optional! Personally I'd rather the second factor was a little more dependable, the 2nd factor for my LastPass account is a lookup grid. That piece of paper in my wallet is unlikely to run out of battery power or otherwise malfunction, and doesn't have the potential privacy issues you highlighted.
In countries(China) where you need your id to get even a prepay phone there will no longer be any anominity.
Top this off with the fact that google doesn't say how often or if at all whether they give information to the chinese government because its against the law in China for them to say so.
State secrecy and all.
I personally think this should be optional and not mandatory. Otherwise I will stop using all of googles account services.