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Updating our inactive account policies

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Re: Updating our inactive account policies

#171

Post by silverpepsi »

mike_d wrote: post #166
kortilla wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Find a different storage provider. Seizing possessions is a pain in the ass and only shady ones would try to make that the business model.

Storage units are a strange business. Most of them are just ways to hold property long term while extracting value from it, the same as if you just grew hay on your farmland. Auctioning off unpaid units is both a liability thing (there is a clear process for the eviction so units can be turned over) and a bonus revenue source. Literally every storage place has it buried in their terms somewhere.

When I had a unit in Paris I was really impressed with their efforts to contact me for small things, I feel they'd have tried every last resort if I was at risk of losing my things but I can't be sure. (Like for freaks sake at least one notification to my postal address I think should be a professional minimum for these types of businesses. It would have worked since I have mail scanning at my postal address)

Re: Updating our inactive account policies

#172

Post by silverpepsi »

woodruffw wrote: post #150
silverpepsi wrote: post #145

This is unbelievably generous, I'm happy. I feel like people forget Hotmail et al. circa 2001 when 60 days passed and you lost everything. Sometimes you could keep your account and just the data was wiped out. This was ABSOLUTELY THE NORM on the internet. Google overturned it single-handedly. In Texas my automatic payment for my storage garage where I have $10,000s of my designer clothing collection didn't go through…

> in America at almost 0 cost to them to keep it active, the NY subway system 100% would have stolen my money. MetroCards expire every 12 months, but every MVM in the city (and every subway station has 2-50 of them) will take an expired one and exchange it for an active one for free. My understanding of the expiry window is that it's meant to correspond roughly to how long a MetroCard survives in a wallet, not to ste…

Very interesting, so perhaps a poor example. I'm used to aggressive policies in the US to take you balance or similarly clean themselves of any financial obligation to you, but off the top of my head I don't have examples handy. Guess I'll document them in the future to see if I have a legitimate argument comparing countries here

Re: Updating our inactive account policies

#173

Post by zdimension »

crazygringo wrote: post #72

I'm seeing a lot of criticism here in the comments, but what's the alternative for free accounts? If you're not using it, how long is Google (a for-profit company) supposed to hold onto your data for free? 100 years? 50 years? 15 years? 2 years seems pretty reasonable to me for something provided by a for-profit corporation. And as other reporting has noted, they're not deleting YouTube videos (makes sense, since whi…

> And as other reporting has noted, they're not deleting YouTube videos

I haven't seen anything mentioning that, do you have a source for it? Old YouTube videos disappearing are my main concern from this policy change

Re: Updating our inactive account policies

#174

Post by culturestate »

silverpepsi wrote: post #170
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

General improvement, if you have important documents and possession considered storing them with a safety deposit box provider. In my neck of the woods these are typically big banks and security services companies.

Honestly after the FBI cleaned out all those safety deposit boxes in California and didn't even have to explain themselves in any meaningful way, I wouldn't even consider one for the normal purposes. Maybe I can get one in Singapore.....

If you're concerned about a scenario in which the government can do what it likes and doesn't need to explain itself in any meaningful way, I'm not sure Singapore is the place you're looking for...

Re: Updating our inactive account policies

#175

Post by Zetobal »

tivert wrote: post #155
dingusdew wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See, I read this situation as entirely differently. Google is not being unreasonable in understanding that they can't afford to store all data from everyone indefinitely. They are not being unreasonable that it is a potential security risk. Where they are being unreasonable is that they have basically gotten everyone addicted to their "free" product, and then, a decade after promoting the idea that no one should run…

> That Google account that your dead friend had that you keep on your buddy list because it gives you memories? Gone. That Facebook account with your dead family members photos and timeline? Gone. The Twitter account with all the tweets from you child who died too soon? Gone. And unless you're the account owner, good luck archiving any of that. I believe Facebook is extremely hostile to scraping, and I don't think Tw…

Nothing you described sounds mentally healthy at all. For Facebook and google you can download a dump of the data if you provide a death certificate and are next of kin.

Re: Updating our inactive account policies

#176

Post by tinus_hn »

crazygringo wrote: post #72

I'm seeing a lot of criticism here in the comments, but what's the alternative for free accounts? If you're not using it, how long is Google (a for-profit company) supposed to hold onto your data for free? 100 years? 50 years? 15 years? 2 years seems pretty reasonable to me for something provided by a for-profit corporation. And as other reporting has noted, they're not deleting YouTube videos (makes sense, since whi…

It’s not only keeping the old emails, if your email address becomes available for registration an attacker can also register it and receive password reset emails etcetera.

Re: Updating our inactive account policies

#177

Post by vxNsr »

pcthrowaway wrote: post #157
vxNsr wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the number isn’t in service why not try signing up with some pbx and getting that number shouldn’t cost more than $30. If you truly believe you have some btc locked away there that’s a small price to pay to get it back.

I always figured I'd get access one day, and being unable to sell before then (if I even had BTC there) wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. But also, can you register a specific U.S. number as a person in another country? Seems like a lot of hassle and possibly more expensive than $30, if it's even possible.

You can def get a US number, finding someone who will give you a specific one is maybe a little harder but not out of the realm of possibility. Sounds like you don’t really care though.

Re: Updating our inactive account policies

#180

Post by bhelkey »

turtleyacht wrote: post #179

As a part of the criteria for an active account, I wish they would include "forwards to another active account." Otherwise, you need to sign in on those accounts every so often, but they are essentially empty.

> Before deleting an account, we will send multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion, to both the account email address and the recovery email (if one has been provided).
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