Google didn't just shut down my Calendar, they shut down everything. I am travelling and trying to use Google for various services, then Google locked me out because I logged in from somewhere different to my usual location.
Now they want me to verify my account using a mobile number. Except that I'm overseas and I don't have global roaming enabled (because otherwise turning on my phone will cost $2 and every text I send costs $2, and I get charged $5/MB for data).
Whether the "verify your account by giving us information we've never demanded from you in the past" is related to my lock-out, or is simply a new demand they started making over the weekend I don't know.
In the meantime I have to find alternatives to Google for everything.
> then Google locked me out because I logged in from somewhere different to my usual location
I very recently had this happen to me too, except it took them 3-4 days after I arrived at my destination to disable my account and demand a phone number.
I have two-factor authentication, and I did a very thorough inspection to ensure I had no malware - nope, it's just because my location changed. Their "kill this account" algorithms really need some tweaking.
This is a really weird one. It has happened to me once, when I traveled to Thailand, but not when I've traveled to Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, China, Belgium, or anywhere else in the last couple of years. In all of those instances, I had other devices (tablet, Chromebook, laptop) at home that were still logged into sessions with the same account. It would be handy to know how they decide when to flag accounts. Facebook, too, for that matter, and Paypal, who seem to be the most draconian.
I just checked the past 5 SIM cards I've used from 5 different countries and they all had free incoming SMS while roaming. Seems to be a general rule. I guess there could be exceptions?
Now they want me to verify my account using a mobile number. Except that I'm overseas and I don't have global roaming enabled (because otherwise turning on my phone will cost $2 and every text I send costs $2, and I get charged $5/MB for data).
Whether the "verify your account by giving us information we've never demanded from you in the past" is related to my lock-out, or is simply a new demand they started making over the weekend I don't know.
In the meantime I have to find alternatives to Google for everything.