i cancelled a phone number last year and found out how much of my life was quietly hanging off it. bank login, email recovery, two factor codes, an exchange account i had forgotten about.

none of those were things i chose to attach to a phone company. somebody who talks a carrier rep into moving that number owns every one of them before you finish your coffee.

get the accounts that matter onto an app based code or a hardware key, and stop letting a company you do not control hold the master key to your identity.