about phone numbers; i've gotten a previously used number.

[.average]

i'm almost sure my new phone number is recycled, i've gotten few calls for a certain person over the past year. if previous owner had connected their steam account(s) to this number, i've become liable for their steam account as well. if that person cheats, i will get banned too. i know that chances are very small but, it's not sitting right with me. since there is no stated limit to how many accounts can be made on one number. wish steam did something about this, like reconfirming number every 6 months, let the confirmed number holder see other accounts on same number, opt for one number for one steam account only option etc. am i missing something? is there a way i'vent thought of?

[.average]

the system would send the number owner message, which would be the new holder of the number. the previous owner don't have to do anything.

[The Giving One]

@ MuppetAmongPuppets

Oh, I think I see what you are saying. If the number was shared before the OP got the number and there was an incoming ban.

Well, I guess that's entirely possible, but like the good rawWwRrr said, that's like worrying about being hit by lightning.

I have to guess that many more accounts would fall into that, if that was possible, since there are only so many phone numbers that can exist. There would have to be safeguards in place, and that is why I think that adding the number to a whole, new Steam account, which is unique, and the number is not shared at that exact moment, "resets the number" to be clean again.

Just my guess, though.

[Muppet among Puppets]

Origineel geplaatst door The Giving One:

Origineel geplaatst door Muppet among Puppets:

The topic creator got a new phone number.
And worries that the new number was the number of an account before, but wasnt removed when the number was dropped by the former phone number owner. And because of that his accounts would be one of the accounts associated with the same number.

Thats the problem.

Yes, but if the number was already on an account when the OP got the number and tried to add it, the system would not let him add the number, since the other person would have to authorize that with the code.

It does not matter if the number was on an account, because as far as VAC bans (and I can only guess game bans also), it only matters if any account is sharing that number at the exact moment of an infraction.

Infractions that cause bans later on don't matter, since the accounts were not sharing the number at that exact moment.

Sorry if I am not understanding what you are pointing out.

If you have 2 accounts,
you add your number one by one.

Each time you get something in an sms. Now your both accounts have the same number.


Now the case of this topic:
Andrew has phone number 127. He adds it to his account. All good.
Later he gets a new phone number, but forgets or just doesnt remove 127 from his account.

3 months later bill gets a phone number. Its 127.
Bill adds also his phone number to his accounts. 127, steam sends the code to sms, bill inserts it. His account has now the number 127.

In this case andrews and bills accounts have the same number. Just as your both accounts would if the number 127 was yours all the time.

[The Giving One]

Origineel geplaatst door Muppet among Puppets:

Now the case of this topic:
Andrew has phone number 127. He adds it to his account. All good.
Later he gets a new phone number, but forgets or just doesnt remove 127 from his account.

3 months later bill gets a phone number. Its 127.
Bill adds also his phone number to his accounts. 127, steam sends the code to sms, bill inserts it. His account has now the number 127.

In this case andrews and bills accounts have the same number. Just as your both accounts would if the number 127 was yours all the time.

No, because in this example, Andrew would still have the number on an account, because he forgot to remove 127. That means that any account that then tried to add the number would have to be authorized, because the number is still on Andrew's account.

Bill would not be able to add the number unless Andrew allowed that.

Once Andrew remembered to remove the number, and did, the act of Bill then adding the number 127 would "reset the number" to be clean again, since at that exact moment, no other account would be sharing the number.

Bill would then become the unique user of number 127, if I understood you correctly.

[.average]

the only authorization needed to add a number is a sms, which is sent to the number. since bill has the number he can easily add number to his account. andrew doesn't have to verify an email. bill would be able to add the number to his account since steam allows multiple accounts per number.

[Muppet among Puppets]

Origineel geplaatst door The Giving One:

Origineel geplaatst door Muppet among Puppets:

Now the case of this topic:
Andrew has phone number 127. He adds it to his account. All good.
Later he gets a new phone number, but forgets or just doesnt remove 127 from his account.

3 months later bill gets a phone number. Its 127.
Bill adds also his phone number to his accounts. 127, steam sends the code to sms, bill inserts it. His account has now the number 127.

In this case andrews and bills accounts have the same number. Just as your both accounts would if the number 127 was yours all the time.

No, because in this example, Andrew would still have the number on an account, because he forgot to remove 127. That means that any account that then tried to add the number would have to be authorized, because the number is still on Andrew's account.

Bill would not be able to add the number unless Andrew allowed that.

Once Andrew remembered to remove the number, and did, the act of Bill then adding the number 127 would "reset the number" to be clean again, since at that exact moment, no other account would be sharing the number.

Bill would then become the unique user of number 127, if I understood you correctly.

You need access to an account to add or change the phone number,
you need a phone number,
you need the code in the sms to finalize the process.

Adding a phone number keeps the number UNTIL it is removed.

Andrew and bill meet this requirement, at different times of history. The question is, did andrew remove the number from his account?

[The Giving One]

Origineel geplaatst door styro:

the only authorization needed to add a number is a sms, which is sent to the number. since bill has the number he can easily add number to his account. andrew doesn't have to verify an email. bill would be able to add the number to his account since steam allows multiple accounts per number.

Bill does not yet have the number on his account. He can't have it on his account unless Andrew lets him.

The system would not let Bill add the number unless Andrew allowed it by accepting the code, and the warning that is sent that warns about phone number sharing and bans.

It does not matter that it is the same phone number. It matters because Andrew already has the number on an account.

That means that the number would fall into being in a shared status, since Andrew still has the number on his account.

[Muppet among Puppets]

Origineel geplaatst door The Giving One:

Origineel geplaatst door styro:

the only authorization needed to add a number is a sms, which is sent to the number. since bill has the number he can easily add number to his account. andrew doesn't have to verify an email. bill would be able to add the number to his account since steam allows multiple accounts per number.

Bill does not yet have the number on his account. He can't have it on his account unless Andrew lets him.

The system would not let Bill add the number unless Andrew allowed it by accepting the code, and the warning that is sent that warns about phone number sharing and bans.

It does not matter that it is the same phone number. It matters because Andrew already has the number on an account.

That means that the number would fall into being in a shared status, since Andrew still has the number on his account.

There is no difference if its andrew and bill or if you have 2 accounts.
Each of these 4 accounts
could get the same phone number.
It could be your number.

You could sit in another room, and 4 times someone yells: Tell me the sms code.
You yell the code back, and another account has your phone number.

A 5th account could also get the same phone number, but this time the neighbour is holding the phone and yells the code when asked.

I think this example explains it :D

[.average]

how would andrew verify if he doesn't own the number anymore? the number has expired for him. bill is new rightful owner of the number. just how would andrew verify if he doesnt own the number anymore? do users get emails for it? that's the only way i can think off that would involve andrew at all.

[The Giving One]

Yes, people could share the codes, and share the numbers but the system clearly warns any user that is the primary and rightful owner of the number about any phone number sharing where bans are possible.

They have to accept that warning when they authorize the number to be shared, by accepting the code.

That means that they then become 100% responsible for any bans that get shared among accounts that have that phone number attached to them, if they are sharing that number at the time of an infraction.

Once the primary, rightful owner of the number removes that number, the number then is clean again, and if Bill (to use the example previously) THEN adds the number, he can, as it will be uniquely added to a unique Steam account and it is not being shared at that exact moment.

Going forward, if any account then wants to use that number, Bill now has to authorize it as said here. This is how I feel the system works, as if not, there would be many more incorrectly applied bans.

It only matters if Steam accounts are sharing the phone number at the exact moment of an infraction that would cause a ban (VAC and I assume, game ban).

[The Giving One]

Origineel geplaatst door styro:

how would andrew verify if he doesn't own the number anymore? the number has expired for him. bill is new rightful owner of the number. just how would andrew verify if he doesnt own the number anymore? do users get emails for it? that's the only way i can think off that would involve andrew at all.

It does not matter if he owns the number or not. That phone number is still on a Steam account. So that means that any account that tries to add that number has to be authorized to do so. Removing a number can be done by anyone, as far as I know.

ADDING a number has to be authorized, if that number is currently on any Steam account.

[Muppet among Puppets]

Origineel geplaatst door The Giving One:

Yes, people could share the codes, and share the numbers but the system clearly warns any user that is the primary and rightful owner of the number about any phone number sharing where bans are possible.

They have to accept that warning when they authorize the number to be shared, by accepting the code.

That means that they then become 100% responsible for any bans that get shared among accounts that have that phone number attached to them, if they are sharing that number at the time of an infraction.

Once the primary, rightful owner of the number removes that number, the number then is clean again, and if Bill (to use the example previously) THEN adds the number, he can, as it will be uniquely added to a unique Steam account and it is not being shared at that exact moment.

Yes, thats exactly why the topic creator has this question:
Is my number still connected with an account of the former owner of the phone number?

[The Giving One]

Origineel geplaatst door Muppet among Puppets:

Yes, thats exactly why the topic creator has this question:
Is my number still connected with an account of the former owner of the phone number?

If it is, he would know because he would be blocked from being able to add the number, if it is currently on a Steam account.

If the number is not on any Steam account, and OP tires to add the number, then he would be able to without any issues, as far as I am aware.

[Muppet among Puppets]

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/7EFD-3CAE-64D3-1C31#addphone

This explains what andrew and bill did at the time they each were the current owner of the phone number.
It leaves the question, what andrew did or not did when he gave away the number.

[The Giving One]

Origineel geplaatst door Muppet among Puppets:

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/7EFD-3CAE-64D3-1C31#addphone

This explains what andrew and bill did at the time they each were the current owner of the phone number.

Yes, but it does not go into detail in that section about phone number sharing and bans. That is done when and if the rightful, primary user of the phone number gets the warning, if anyone tries to add that number to any Steam account once it has already been attached to a Steam account.

This is resolved because Steam accounts are unique.

Origineel geplaatst door Muppet among Puppets:

It leaves the question, what andrew did or not did when he gave away the number.

It does not matter for Bills sake, because Bill's account and Andrew's account were not sharing the number at the exact time of a cheating infraction, or any infraction that would cause a ban.