Honestly, props to them for disclosing this so early. Other companies have waited months to tell their customers about these things, sometimes only because it leaked.
I mostly agree, however setting your phone number includes the verification process. With that, Google knows for near certain that this is indeed your number.
It broke for me because gustav.pak was missing. Might be the sameissuee for you or something similar. Try repairing the game with Heroic. If that doesn't work (didn't for me because of space), try downloading it on a different PC and copy the files on top. That fixed it for me.
Also, disclaimer that this just worked for me and I can't guarantee anything.
Honestly, props to them for disclosing this so early. Other companies have waited months to tell their customers about these things, sometimes only because it leaked.