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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

#21

Post by grammarnazzzi »

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.

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

#24

Post by hk__2 »

zevv wrote: post #18

You get what you pay for. (Sorry for the obviously totally useless comment that is not helpful in any way. But seriously: I've seen this happen to a number of people, and you're just out of luck - computer says no. If you value your digital history, host your mail and file at a party where you pay for the service - that makes you a customer not a product )

> If you value your digital history, host your mail and file at a party where you pay for the service - that makes you a customer not a product

And then the hosting company has a fire in their datacenter and there’s someone on HN saying it’s still your fault because you needed to do backups as well. And then you have a backup issue and there’s someone on HN saying it’s still your fault for some other reason.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-ovh-fire-idUSKBN2B...

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

#25

Post by authed »

cmaggiulli wrote: post #16

I have so many important accounts attached to my gmail so I created a bunch of backup codes and hide them in various places

Good idea, but I wish that there was an option to get backup codes without having to enable 2-step verification.

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1187538?hl=en&co=...

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

#26

Post by hhansen »

zevv wrote: post #18

You get what you pay for. (Sorry for the obviously totally useless comment that is not helpful in any way. But seriously: I've seen this happen to a number of people, and you're just out of luck - computer says no. If you value your digital history, host your mail and file at a party where you pay for the service - that makes you a customer not a product )

Sarcastically, I would say he paid dearly with his privacy and metadata, without ever giving it a second thought.

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

#27

Post by swiley »

Yup. This happened to me two years ago. Thankfully I hardly used them for anything important. They started freaking me out years ago and I've moved to self host everything.

People still send emails to my gmail address, including my own family. It forwards to swiley.net for now but that probably won't last.

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

#28

Post by authed »

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.

Same. I don't even know my password, but I know that I have the correct one because I use a password manager.

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

#29

Post by probably_wrong »

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…

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 reasonable compromise.

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

#30

Post by mountainb »

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.

Yes you can. There are all kinds of regulations. Many entities are held to high standards. They're exposed to liability.

The 'free' era of the internet has been enabled by excessive liability shields granted to shareholders that are collectively worth trillions of dollars, and those riches have been built around callous disregard for the property and rights of billions of people worldwide.

That being said, with Gmail, you get what you pay for. With Google's paid for hosted email, you don't get what you pay for either. It's not a good provider if you ever have any issues with it that cannot be solved by their automated processes.

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