TLDR: From what I can tell, the "consent" to cloud backup from Google Authenticator was misleading at best and blocked access to the tool until it was given. IMHO this is another example of Google forcing decisions on customers in order to extract even more data. Thumbs down!
It looks like Google didn't make clear what was happening... There are almost no settings in Authenticator and there is no place to turn "cloud backup" on or off. I found this article that described the feature when it rolled out.
If the screenshot is accurate, they blocked access to the tool until "consent" was given to backup codes to Google. The text itself is clear in retrospect but, in my opinion, implies that there will be a choice to backup to Google and that choice was never presented.
"Google Authenticator is Upgrading... You can now sign into your Google Account and backup your Google Authenticator codes to the cloud."
A button is presented labeled "Get Started" and, if you click it, Authenticator will backup all of your codes to the cloud.
I don't remember being presented with this screen but I don't remember a lot of things. I suspect I needed to get a code and simply clicked the button to get to the list of codes. If I read it, I likely thought there was a new setting and I could manage this "backing up" from there. Clearly this was not the case and I "consented" to let Google have all of by 2FA codes.
It looks like Google didn't make clear what was happening... There are almost no settings in Authenticator and there is no place to turn "cloud backup" on or off. I found this article that described the feature when it rolled out.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-authenti...
If the screenshot is accurate, they blocked access to the tool until "consent" was given to backup codes to Google. The text itself is clear in retrospect but, in my opinion, implies that there will be a choice to backup to Google and that choice was never presented.
"Google Authenticator is Upgrading... You can now sign into your Google Account and backup your Google Authenticator codes to the cloud."
A button is presented labeled "Get Started" and, if you click it, Authenticator will backup all of your codes to the cloud.
I don't remember being presented with this screen but I don't remember a lot of things. I suspect I needed to get a code and simply clicked the button to get to the list of codes. If I read it, I likely thought there was a new setting and I could manage this "backing up" from there. Clearly this was not the case and I "consented" to let Google have all of by 2FA codes.