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Google users locked out after 15 years' use

businessinsider.com

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Re: Google users locked out after 15 years' use

#551

Post by indigochill »

NeoFeznet wrote: post #540
feduphn wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This victim-blaming needs to stop before the tech industry backlash hits. This is exactly why we need regulation. I swear, if "just go somewhere else" were good advice (and it's not), we wouldn't be having this conversation. How many years has it been, though, that Google and other consumer-ignorant companies have been able to get away with this, helped along by people who tell victims to just "go somewhere else"? No…

For real. If we don't do this ourselves, then the hammer is gonna come down much harsher and with much more reckless abandon in the future. It'll look closer to SOPA than anything reasonable. I don't want 80 year-old dinosaurs in Congress making these decisions 10-15 years from now because we couldn't get our shit together.

What do we expect to change between now and 10-15 years from now that will make regulation harsher? Assuming bad behavior from tech giants continues (and, crucially, continues to be publicized), I would assume by then a competitor will have come along to take the bad-behaver's business.

After all, 15 years ago we still thought Google was "not evil". A lot can change in that time.

Re: Google users locked out after 15 years' use

#552

Post by gitweb »

ciarannolan wrote: post #519
gitweb wrote: post #501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its just you. Also there is no such thing as paying for a more trustworthy email option. If people send mass emails or spam that violates the ToS you'll get blocked no matter who your provider is.

That's not the issue here though. The issue is that people who _don't_ do those things still get permabanned by Google with zero recourse. When you pay for something like Fastmail, you get a human within hours to help solve the problem.

And when you pay for Gmail you get phone support too.

Re: Google users locked out after 15 years' use

#553

Post by ValentineC »

hedora wrote: post #516
blunte wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how long this will last until Google finds a way to prevent the migration out...

From what I can tell, it just uses standard protocols like IMAP (at least, it did when I moved from a non-gmail provider to it).

Gmail uses IMAP, but there are rate limits that seem to have been implemented recently: https://support.google.com/a/answer/1071518?hl=en

The rate limits won't stop someone from eventually migrating out, but it might take a while.

Re: Google users locked out after 15 years' use

#554

Post by ValentineC »

DataCrayon wrote: post #331
TheChaplain wrote: post #3

Tip: Get your own domain from a non-google registrar, then connect to Gmail if you prefer. If you ever are locked out, you can just move the address to another email-provider. Another trick is to use always have forwarding enabled in Gmail, to Outlook.com or another provider. All email will be forwarded despite your account being locked, so you will not miss out on important info. And use Google Takeout for backing u…

Who do you recommend instead of Google Domains?

Cloudflare Domains is great for conventional TLDs.

Re: Google users locked out after 15 years' use

#555

Post by gitweb »

ciarannolan wrote: post #519
gitweb wrote: post #501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its just you. Also there is no such thing as paying for a more trustworthy email option. If people send mass emails or spam that violates the ToS you'll get blocked no matter who your provider is.

That's not the issue here though. The issue is that people who _don't_ do those things still get permabanned by Google with zero recourse. When you pay for something like Fastmail, you get a human within hours to help solve the problem.

Who is getting permabanned without doing those things? I think you'd be surprised how many people play dumb and act upset knowing exactly why they got their account suspended, but rather than tell you they play the victim card thinking it'll somehow help them.

Re: Google users locked out after 15 years' use

#556

Post by ValentineC »

ljm wrote: post #213
cutemonster wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if I forget to renew the domain? Someone else buys the domain after me? And steals all my online accounts? (Pwd reset emails)

That's honestly nobody's problem but your own. Set it to autorenew or buy it for a longer period of time. I bought 10 years up-front for my own domain.

This. One tip I might have learnt from here is to renew a domain for the maximum allowed period (usually 10 years), and then make it a habit to renew it once a year, back to the full ~10 years.

Re: Google users locked out after 15 years' use

#559

Post by [deleted] »

gitweb wrote: post #497
hedora wrote: post #472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the past, the advertiser would likely to tell that to the people selling ad space. Then, they’d suffer political blowback for being anti-LGBT. It sounds like Google is laundering third party behavior that is further dividing our society. Perhaps advertisers should be forced (by the government, on all algorithmic platforms) to publish their targeting criteria.

Should it also be a requirement for the government to posts what preferences you look for in a partner on dating websites, what gender you prefer when searching for doctors, what race you prefer when looking for cleaning or child care assistance?

[deleted]

Re: Google users locked out after 15 years' use

#560

Post by gitweb »

eropple wrote: post #521
gitweb wrote: post #497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should it also be a requirement for the government to posts what preferences you look for in a partner on dating websites, what gender you prefer when searching for doctors, what race you prefer when looking for cleaning or child care assistance?

This is a ghastly and inhumane comparison. Companies aren't people.

I think it is more ghastly and inhumane to think that companies that choose not to market to those they disagree with are somehow doing them a disservice by not marketing to them. They are doing them a favor. It would be completely different if they were saying they couldn't shop there, just like if you intentionally look for women doctor's to tell them that you think they are inferior or if you look for dark skinned people on dating websites to tell them you don't like their race. I personally see no positive effects from advertising whatsoever, and am better off if a company thinks I'm too old or whatever to sell their product to.
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