One of the reasons why Google’s Gmail service has remained so popular over the years is its simple account setup and plenty of free storage for keeping files and messages without paying any fees. However, it appears that things are changing for Gmail users, and some aren’t happy. As spotted by a member of the Reddit community, Google may have changed its policy when setting up new accounts, with users only getting a smaller 5GB of storage unless they hand over their phone number.

Until now, Google has happily dished out 15GB of free space without asking for extra personal data, so it’s a pretty sizeable update.

“Gmail now gives 5GB free if you sign up without a phone number,” the Reddit post says.

“Last night, I was creating a new Gmail address and then I see that Google only gives the 15GB storage if I provided a phone number and 5GB storage if I decide to not to add phone number.”

An image has also been posted which claims to show the new warning message when setting up an account.

“Review your storage options,” it reads.

“Your account includes 5GB of storage. Now get even more storage space with your number for Google Photos, Drive and Gmail. Google will use your phone number to make sure storage is added only once per account.”

To add to the speculation about the change, the team at 9to5google have spotted a switch on Google’s support page.

Until recently, things read, “Your Google Account comes with 15 GB of cloud storage at no charge,” but that’s been updated.

It now reads, “Your Google Account comes with up to 15 GB of cloud storage.”

It’s unclear why the change has been made and who is affected, but it could simply be Google trying to crack down on fake accounts or users setting up multiple accounts in an attempt to beat the system and get more storage without paying.

Google is yet to respond with an official comment, but Gmail users are not happy.

“I guess storage costs hit everyone. I’m just waiting for the day when they start mass-deleting YouTube videos if the author doesn’t share their phone number,” said Simon in the Reddit thread.

“Can’t wait for them to change it once again in the future from 5GB to 500MB,” added Ingfo.

And Reddit user Greenly vented: “We’ve moved to the “bribery for your data” stage I see.”

It’s worth noting that this update does not affect existing accounts; it just appears to be targeting those setting up new accounts.

We’ll update this article once Google clarifies things.