I think it's more likely that it's to limit people getting unlimited storage with multiple accounts by limiting it to 15gb per phone number

> Google has confirmed that it's testing a 5GB storage limit for some new Gmail users, unless they add their number.

If 5GB users don't have to enter phone, then I think they will not be able to stop unlimited usage anyway.

	▲	ChrisRR 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah. They'll never be able to stop it, but I wouldn't be surprised if just adding a little extra roadblock makes a measurable difference in their storage costs