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Ask HN: Is Gmail spam out of control for everyone else too?

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Re: Ask HN: Is Gmail spam out of control for everyone else too?

#31

Post by secondcoming »

morsch wrote: post #25
secondcoming wrote: post #22

Spam is one thing, but the amount of email I receive that's intended for other people is very worrying. I think it has to do with gmail ignoring periods in the username. It's definitely not spam or phishing either, it's really genuine emails that have either been sent to the wrong account or multiple accounts. I've received a draft divorce settlement of an apparently high-profile NY couple, police reports, US Sea Cad…

I'm confused, how is it a definite violation of GDPR and who do you think is doing the violating? How would the handling of periods be relevant? Why wouldn't it just be user error? People send emails to the wrong address all the time. They'll keep doing it, unless you tell them, which you may or may not want to, because they might be embarrased or angry. Here's Google's relevant support page: https://support.google.c…

I'm in the EU and it's GDPR violation to send someone else's personal info to a third party without permission.

Regarding the usernames, for example gmail seems to treat 'firstname.lastname@gmail.com' as being the same as 'firstnamelastname@gmail.com'

Further than that I don't know. All I do know is that I occasionally get legitimate emails intended for other people, and I suspect others may be getting mine.

Re: Ask HN: Is Gmail spam out of control for everyone else too?

#32

Post by mimsee »

Yes! I get these messages as a notification to my phone.

The message body of the email seems to contain some messages normally sent to people that they really expect, like a github password reset, an email verification link, or a university email directed towards students [0][1].

[0]: https://pastebin.com/kfWTLMjz

[1]: https://pastebin.com/NmPK2dVY

Edit: found a second email

Re: Ask HN: Is Gmail spam out of control for everyone else too?

#34

Post by bamboozled »

moralestapia wrote: post #29

Mine is backwards, literally. Almost all my legitimate email goes to spam, while hyper-obvious 2000s type of spam "Hello sir, I want to send you 20,000,000 dollars" is common on my inbox. I now have the habit to check my Spam folder first . It has become so stupid that even emails from THEIR OWN DAMN SERVICES, like transactional messages from GCP, go to Spam.

You don’t k know this yet, but the Google AI has foreseen all of this and is trying to get you to click on the emails you need to click on, the ones it knows are good for you.

Re: Ask HN: Is Gmail spam out of control for everyone else too?

#38

Post by drc500free »

secondcoming wrote: post #31
morsch wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm confused, how is it a definite violation of GDPR and who do you think is doing the violating? How would the handling of periods be relevant? Why wouldn't it just be user error? People send emails to the wrong address all the time. They'll keep doing it, unless you tell them, which you may or may not want to, because they might be embarrased or angry. Here's Google's relevant support page: https://support.google.c…

I'm in the EU and it's GDPR violation to send someone else's personal info to a third party without permission. Regarding the usernames, for example gmail seems to treat 'firstname.lastname@gmail.com' as being the same as 'firstnamelastname@gmail.com' Further than that I don't know. All I do know is that I occasionally get legitimate emails intended for other people, and I suspect others may be getting mine.

Yes, gmail treats those the same. Which means there is no valid email address belonging to someone else that is the same as yours other than periods. People are just mistyping email addresses, it happens all the time.

Re: Ask HN: Is Gmail spam out of control for everyone else too?

#39

Post by winternett »

It's just a hunch, but I think almost every major change Google has made to the service for many years is in hopes of reducing active users. It's why I hung onto my hotmail account as well, even though MSFT is doing the same thing in slightly less agresive and dramatic ways.

Gmail storage being reduced with a subscription service suddenly being in place, when it's vitally linked to years of saved user data on phones is a clue, so is the fact that both Gmail and Hotmail don't clearly show originating emails fully on messages so that users can double check identities of email senders.

We're in an age of extortionware with absolutely no consumer voice nor congressional defense, and even though subscription fees seem low right now, they'll only increase as users complain, and there will be no choice but to submit to it all.

I don't really get spam, because I signed up for their advanced storage feature, God have mercy on me if I ever decide to switch to iPhone, because most phones no longer support SD cards.

I think my next move will be to downgrade to older hardware, and to avoid all of the great new tech that serves their interests more than me. I'm really worn out on the festering parasitic behavior of these companies, it's a trap.

Re: Ask HN: Is Gmail spam out of control for everyone else too?

#40

Post by MerelyMortal »

jfoster wrote: post #35

Google claim they're working on it: https://twitter.com/gmail/status/1491495105123045376

I think the Twitter reply is probably more accurate:

> Is there actually a particular issue behind these that Google is aware of & working on, or is this just a generic response?

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