Google now lets you add friends as contacts for account recovery | TechCrunch

"Google is adding new ways to recover Google accounts without losing any information in case you lose your device or if your account is compromised through a hack. The company is adding a new feature called Recovery Contacts, which lets you add your trusted friends or family members as contacts to initiate your recovery and verify your identity. When you are locked out of your account because you lost your device or forgot your password."

"When you are locked out, you can select a recovery contact as the backup method, and they will get a number, which will be valid for 15 minutes, that you will have to verify to log in to your account again. You can add 10 recovery contacts to your account, and they will have to approve your request to be added as one. Once you add a recovery contact, you can't use them again for seven days."

"The company launched on-device protection for messages for Pixel devices to detect scam and spam messages. Google is now baking in spam link detection in Google Messages for all users. When you click on a suspicious message, the app will warn you and stop you from visiting that page. For more technically inclined people, the company is adding a key verifier in Google Messages. This helps identify the other person and ensures that your messages are end-to-end encrypted and private."

Google adds recovery and privacy features across Android products. Recovery Contacts lets users add up to 10 trusted friends or family who must approve being added; a recovery contact can be used as a backup method to receive a code valid for 15 minutes. Once added, a recovery contact cannot be used again for seven days. Sign-in with mobile number identifies accounts linked to a phone number and allows verification using the previous device's lock-screen passcode or pattern; this feature is rolling out gradually worldwide. Google Messages gains spam link detection that warns and blocks suspicious links, on-device protections for Pixel, and a key verifier to ensure end-to-end encryption.

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