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Stop Treating Phone Numbers As A Digital ID
(notthesolution.substack.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
There used to be a way to make Google accounts with no number but that's probably been patched. I generally refuse to add numbers if I can help it.
Proton, Mailbox & fastmail are all good options. Best way to avoid it is self-hosting but that is beyond most people (as in time-consuming).
If it's associated with a specific device it will let you (ex my Android tv has its own account, no phone)