Why do we ask for your phone number?

We take your online safety seriously. In order to prevent spammers and other nefarious agents from exploiting the site, we match your logon with both your email and a valid phone number. As people tend to have just one phone number versus many email accounts, this allows us to ban people who violate our Terms of Service without them turning right around and sign up with a new email. We will never sell your number to a third party -- you can read more about our privacy policy here.