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Tell HN: Lost then regained access to Google account, with correct credentials

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Re: Tell HN: Lost then regained access to Google account, with correct credentials

#61

Post by donmcronald »

mihamaker wrote: post #23

I lost a lot of accounts because of this misunderstanding. I always use a VPN for work. I keep all logins and passwords in the password manager. But Google is very worried about my safety, even to my detriment.

Using a public VPN is almost guaranteed to flag your logins as suspicious at all of the big tech companies.

If anyone wants to see how intent big tech is on tying your profiles back to personally identifiable information, connect to a VPN and try to create new accounts on various services. It's basically impossible without a non-VOIP phone number. If you manage to get an email address, big sites like Facebook and Twitter will instantly lock your account and require SMS verification.

Big tech discriminates against anyone that doesn't have enough money to own a phone.

Re: Tell HN: Lost then regained access to Google account, with correct credentials

#62

Post by DoingIsLearning »

authed wrote: post #15

Fixed. I used Chromium to login (which I never do) and then back to Firefox. Everything back to normal, for now.

So I have also had this happen to me in the past which was one of the reasons I abandoned gmail completely.

Am I understanding this right that you had the correct password but no 2FA authentication and somehow a Firefox user agent on Linux triggered google mail servers to shut you out?

I never really tried with chromium perhaps I can still retrieve old data (Google Support was obviously non existing on this issue).

Re: Tell HN: Lost then regained access to Google account, with correct credentials

#63

Post by znpy »

londons_explore wrote: post #38
probably_wrong wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are in Europe, and at least for email, it is regulated. The GDPR's Right to Data Portability means that a company is obligated to give you access to your personal data - they are within their right not to have you as a customer anymore, but they must give you at least a copy of whatever data they already have. Of course, you'll probably have to jump some hoops to prove that you are you, but IMHO that's a reaso…

Doesn't work with Google. If you cannot log into the account, their legal team won't accept that you are the account holder. Even if you provide passport and driving license etc., they can't be sure, because you didn't upload the passport and stuff when opening the account.

Then you can sue, I guess.

Re: Tell HN: Lost then regained access to Google account, with correct credentials

#64

Post by znpy »

grammarnazzzi wrote: post #21
cunthorpe wrote: post #3

This kind of stuff ought to be regulated somehow, one can’t lose access to one’s life. I recently wasn’t able to recover an old account because I did not have access to my 2FA number and their help site suggested I “contact the phone company to recover the number, then try again.” I had to do the same exact thing for another service but they did allow me to change the number by providing some information like last tr…

> This kind of stuff ought to be regulated somehow, one can’t lose access to one’s life. You can't create regulation requiring anyone or anything be competent and responsible. If you entrust your livelihood to a company that cannot be trusted, that's on you.

Imagine applying the same logic to hospitals.

«A malpractice lawsuit? You silly goose!»

Re: Tell HN: Lost then regained access to Google account, with correct credentials

#65

Post by daitangio »

dt3ft wrote: post #50

This story keeps coming up. When you pay for email, you get a customer status. This entails a SLA and a bunch of other rights, which you most likely never get from a free service provider. I hope if those reading these comments still use free email service instead of hosting their own (or paying for it), strongly consider making the switch.

I switched to my hosted email, it is not so difficult to manage, and I feel very free.

Also I have created accounts for my children, my wife with very little costs. The magic? This very well supported project:

https://github.com/docker-mailserver/docker-mailserver

Re: Tell HN: Lost then regained access to Google account, with correct credentials

#66

Post by obiwan14 »

donmcronald wrote: post #61
mihamaker wrote: post #23

I lost a lot of accounts because of this misunderstanding. I always use a VPN for work. I keep all logins and passwords in the password manager. But Google is very worried about my safety, even to my detriment.

Using a public VPN is almost guaranteed to flag your logins as suspicious at all of the big tech companies. If anyone wants to see how intent big tech is on tying your profiles back to personally identifiable information, connect to a VPN and try to create new accounts on various services. It's basically impossible without a non-VOIP phone number. If you manage to get an email address, big sites like Facebook and Twi…

Have you tried to create an account at this site - HN, using a Tor-enabled browser of over a VPN connection?

Re: Tell HN: Lost then regained access to Google account, with correct credentials

#67

Post by aj3 »

londons_explore wrote: post #40
Alex3917 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Backup codes are a way to bypass the 2nd step, so what works that even mean?

No - you need backup codes and something else, like a password, SMS OTP, or access to the recovery email address.

Well yeah. If the recovery process is weaker than regular authentication, that's what bad guys will use for account takeover. You don't want to lose Gmail because someone bruteforced your backup code?

Re: Tell HN: Lost then regained access to Google account, with correct credentials

#68

Post by aj3 »

hk1337 wrote: post #43

So, what was the cause of your inability to login sense all you did was switch browsers for it to work? Could it be some autofill or other cached information jacking with the form input?

Most probably they've added MFA and lost it. Devices that have been authenticated already can be used with the bare login & password, but new sessions will ask for the MFA they can't access.

Re: Tell HN: Lost then regained access to Google account, with correct credentials

#69

Post by zerr »

dt3ft wrote: post #50

This story keeps coming up. When you pay for email, you get a customer status. This entails a SLA and a bunch of other rights, which you most likely never get from a free service provider. I hope if those reading these comments still use free email service instead of hosting their own (or paying for it), strongly consider making the switch.

Is it necessary to pay with a fiat currency to be considered as customer? Paying them with personal data doesn't count?

Re: Tell HN: Lost then regained access to Google account, with correct credentials

#70

Post by aj3 »

grammarnazzzi wrote: post #39

Google marketing: "Entrust your livelihood to us because we're the experts" Goodle production: "We're not responsible for your livelihood" Same from Microsoft

Clueless users: "Let me enable uber-secure mode, so nobody can hack me"

Clueless users next day: "Damn, I got locked out of my account, there are no alternative email addresses for recovery, I lost Ubikey and didn't save backup codes"

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