Do you not know there are other e-mail providers that will take your money in exchange for services?
Gmail was revolutionary because it was, for most of its history, better than even paid email services. OP might know that paid services exist, but many of them have a reputation for having worse search and fewer access options than Gmail.
Ask HN: I’m scared of losing GMail access. Do email protection laws exist?
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Re: Ask HN: I’m scared of losing GMail access. Do email protection laws exist?
#12This is a good example of why everyone should have their own domain. Using @gmail.com or any other "mass" email domain is just not a great practice. IMHO, of course.
Re: Ask HN: I’m scared of losing GMail access. Do email protection laws exist?
#13Do you not know there are other e-mail providers that will take your money in exchange for services?
My concern is primarily that I already have this email address attached to a plethora of services, many of which I've even forgotten. I parted with an older email address many years ago when I was much younger, but now I'm faced with an account I've had for much longer, which is attached to many more important websites and software.
You'd be best advised to obtain a domain, once you have that then you have a fixed email address that you own (to the extent that you 'own' the domain, but as long as you pay the yearly fee [which can be paid up for ten years at one time], you effectively do 'own' it).
Then you can begin migrating things that are attached to gmail away from gmail and to the address you own. Eventually you'll have all the very important critical items migrated, and the ones you missed you may not feel so troubled to ignore.
As for email service, you can purchase email hosting (some services have been mentioned here already) or you can self host (which is what I do with my domain). Self hosting is not that hard, but it does require a certain level of internet and networking knowledge, which if you don't have could make attempting to self host feel like a nightmare. In my case, I've had the same email address since about 1999 or 2000 (I can't remember exactly when now). It has moved across four different internet links across three ISP's in the ensuing years, but never once was I ever at risk of losing any old emails because a 'provider' decided to close down or to arbitrarily terminate an account.
Re: Ask HN: I’m scared of losing GMail access. Do email protection laws exist?
#14- Make periodic backups of Gmail using IMAP https://duckduckgo.com/?q=gmail+backup+migration
Re: Ask HN: I’m scared of losing GMail access. Do email protection laws exist?
#15Need to use a cloud synchronization AND a backup service/scheduled app, or switch email providers such as setting up your own domain and email server in a country like Sweden, Iceland or Ukraine. - https://www.cloudhq.net - Make periodic backups of Gmail using IMAP https://duckduckgo.com/?q=gmail+backup+migration
Re: Ask HN: I’m scared of losing GMail access. Do email protection laws exist?
#16a) Make frequent backups via google Takeouta b) forward all your mail to a secondary account c) don't use a consumer account (@gmail.com) but pay for your domain and use email@yourorg.com d) use your gmail account only for gmail and do YT, adwords etc from another google account so that if you run afoul of Terms of service on one product your gmail is not terminated also. Only c) allows you to keep your email address…
Re: Ask HN: I’m scared of losing GMail access. Do email protection laws exist?
#17Need to use a cloud synchronization AND a backup service/scheduled app, or switch email providers such as setting up your own domain and email server in a country like Sweden, Iceland or Ukraine. - https://www.cloudhq.net - Make periodic backups of Gmail using IMAP https://duckduckgo.com/?q=gmail+backup+migration
Ukraine is not safe from Russian influence and could possibly be annexed in coming years.
Re: Ask HN: I’m scared of losing GMail access. Do email protection laws exist?
#18(i) you won't be able to access importing accounts e.g. bank accounts where your email is your gmail account.
(ii) you won't be able to see your old emails.
Solutions
(i) Buy a domain name and use that for your emails. Forward those to GMail initially but you can forward them to something else if you ever lose GMail access. Update all your accounts to this new email address.
(ii) Use Google Takeout to download all of your Google data, including your GMail.