Whilst it might not be of help to OP, I suggest everyone else to do a data export for all your important services every once in a while and save it with your other backups.
Ask HN: Help – Locked out of 10 years Gmail account
31–40 of 261 posts
Re: Ask HN: Help – Locked out of 10 years Gmail account
#32I've been locked out of 17 year old gmail account for awhile now because I refuse to sync my phone to it. I only want to login to delete the contents and deactivate the account. It still forwards to my Thunderbird which is how I noticed Google stops dedicating spam protection to un-synced accounts (or something). So, they want me to go away, and I want to go away, but they won't let me go away.
> to delete the contents and deactivate the account
Are you in the EU? Google's DPO or your country's data protection authority might want to hear about it.
Re: Ask HN: Help – Locked out of 10 years Gmail account
#33[flagged]
Re: Ask HN: Help – Locked out of 10 years Gmail account
#34I've been locked out of 17 year old gmail account for awhile now because I refuse to sync my phone to it. I only want to login to delete the contents and deactivate the account. It still forwards to my Thunderbird which is how I noticed Google stops dedicating spam protection to un-synced accounts (or something). So, they want me to go away, and I want to go away, but they won't let me go away.
In ~2014 when I didn't have a phone yet (being a child) they deleted my account on account of not having a phone number associated for some weeks.
Even though postfix brings me headaches sometimes, seeing issues people have with google seems as setting it up was a step in the right direction.
Re: Ask HN: Help – Locked out of 10 years Gmail account
#35Lesson learned, don't do unnecessary stuffs while everyone is on holiday.
It’s not like Google customer service is going to help on a non-holiday
Re: Ask HN: Help – Locked out of 10 years Gmail account
#36Hope you get your account back.
I’ve been on the fence about migrating off Gmail, but after reading threads like this, I put a contingency plan in place. Backups of my Google account are done hourly, and I have a custom domain/workspace account so I can move the domain elsewhere if needed.
Re: Ask HN: Help – Locked out of 10 years Gmail account
#37Yikes! good luck, hope it works out. This is scary. Gmail is still, by far, the best email app. Something like this could happen to me and, I suspect, a lot of other people.
> Gmail is still, by far, the best email app.
I used to think so when I used Gmail.
But switching to Fastmail, I no longer agree that it is "by far" the best. Now I think Gmail is only better by a slight margin, and this margin is so small that it does not justify the drawbacks: Potentially getting locked out with no recourse, certainly getting everything you receive scanned to deliver you the best possible ads, contribute to the email monopoly where the big players decide the protocols.
Re: Ask HN: Help – Locked out of 10 years Gmail account
#38I made the jump to Fastmail and I'm very happy with it. Web interface is at least as good as Gmail's. Thunderbird keeps a local copy of my emails, I control the email domain. I can create backups. The second you get back in you gotta get off this platform.
A big plus one to Fastmail (no economic link, just happy customer). I use the apple apps to access. I've never actually had any problem but I have confidence if I ever do, it will be solved quickly and painlessly by a human who cares because I'm a paying customer.
I don't know why we ever thought free email was a good idea. Of course Google doesn't care about a free email user. They're just another useless eater out of billions. And yet so many of us (me included, until switching) basically built our whole online existences around gmail.
Email is important. Important things are worth paying for. You have status and recourse if anything goes wrong. Gmail works until it suddenly doesn't and you are reduced to desperate moves like begging for relief on HN. Move away before that happens, and vote with your wallet for fair service for a fair price.
Re: Ask HN: Help – Locked out of 10 years Gmail account
#39Google's strategy of locking out people from "everything" is just insane! Someone needs to lawyer up and make them pay through the nose for stealing access to individual’s personal data that doesn't even belong to them.
How is it everything? You get locked out of your account.
Re: Ask HN: Help – Locked out of 10 years Gmail account
#40I've been locked out of 17 year old gmail account for awhile now because I refuse to sync my phone to it. I only want to login to delete the contents and deactivate the account. It still forwards to my Thunderbird which is how I noticed Google stops dedicating spam protection to un-synced accounts (or something). So, they want me to go away, and I want to go away, but they won't let me go away.
> to delete the contents and deactivate the account Are you in the EU? Google's DPO or your country's data protection authority might want to hear about it.
Maybe he doesn't want to send them a copy of his national ID for the sake of privacy.
Are privacy guidelines in EU countries so well defined that they take terms such as "password for an online service" into their vocabulary?