I use GrapheneOS ony phone and a Mac with the security options as optimized as possible. For most of my emailing etc, I use Tuta and Proton. There are instances however, where having a Google account is beneficial (some apps for example won’t download from Aurora store in anonymous mode).
Is it advisable/possible to create a dummy Google account with minimal ID/credentials? And if so, what are some best practices for doing so?
Or, do I resign myself to the fact that with more control over my data, I have to sacrifice more?
How old is your account? I think the phone number requirement for new signups is relatively recent.
approximately 9 months, sometime in summer of last year
Not relatively. Been that way for maybe 8 or more years. They also monitor the number. I’ve made 3-4 accounts using one over a series of maybe 5 years and when I tired to make a new one, it blocked the number for making too many. So I can now never have a Google account unless my number changes. And the poor sod who picks up my old number is also screwed lol