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Inactive Google Account Policy

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Re: Inactive Google Account Policy

#71

Post by prmoustache »

Baeocystin wrote: post #34
spc476 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Gmail account [1] and I regularly get email for other people who share my name (at least three others). I find it amazing they think that's their email address (or other people think that they'll reach the right person by just @gmail.com). [1] Not my primary account but I got it to give Gmail a try when it was first opened to the public. I personally found it 'meh' but kept the account for testing purposes w…

I was very happy to get the non-numbered version of my very common name back when gmail was new and invite-only. It has turned out to be a monkey's paw wish, though. I get medical records, legal filings, private and personal correspondence, bills, everything. Trying to contact anyone involved to let them know that I'm not the me they think I am barely works. It's both maddening, and bizarre to me that so many people…

Same here, I have access to so much private data from homonyms.

Re: Inactive Google Account Policy

#73

Post by bdcravens »

spc476 wrote: post #26
numpad0 wrote: post #15

I think of likely reasons this happens is username exhaustion. >100 million people are born every year, it won’t take centuries for us to fill up every namespaces with dead accounts. Before that inevitably happens, there will probably be a point we all have to switch over to identification not by user selected username but random alphanumeric ID string, with display names only for search, free from uniqueness require…

I have a Gmail account [1] and I regularly get email for other people who share my name (at least three others). I find it amazing they think that's their email address (or other people think that they'll reach the right person by just @gmail.com). [1] Not my primary account but I got it to give Gmail a try when it was first opened to the public. I personally found it 'meh' but kept the account for testing purposes w…

My username on Google is same as here, and I occasionally get emails for a Barbara with my last name who apparently mistyped her email when buying a car a few years ago.

Re: Inactive Google Account Policy

#74

Post by danparsonson »

renegat0x0 wrote: post #60
danparsonson wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even self hosting email is impossible now. You won't be able to send emails because nothing trusts you. That's not been my experience - I've successfully self-hosted email for nearly a decade now. Really nice guide here: https://thomas-leister.de/en/mailserver-debian-stretch/

There are people who have experienced problems. https://cfenollosa.com/blog/after-self-hosting-my-email-for-...

Of course there are; I'm assuming the GP has too. All I'm saying is that I've personally had no trouble, thus disproving the assertion that it's impossible to self-host. I don't know what I've done differently - perhaps I'm lucky with the IP range that I'm in?

Re: Inactive Google Account Policy

#75

Post by hirako2000 »

danparsonson wrote: post #74
renegat0x0 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are people who have experienced problems. https://cfenollosa.com/blog/after-self-hosting-my-email-for-...

Of course there are; I'm assuming the GP has too. All I'm saying is that I've personally had no trouble, thus disproving the assertion that it's impossible to self-host. I don't know what I've done differently - perhaps I'm lucky with the IP range that I'm in?

It's possible to self host.

It's impossible to self host with the guarantee most emails sent from that host won't be outright rejected or flagged as spams by centralised mail services.

Re: Inactive Google Account Policy

#76

Post by csnover »

danparsonson wrote: post #74
renegat0x0 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are people who have experienced problems. https://cfenollosa.com/blog/after-self-hosting-my-email-for-...

Of course there are; I'm assuming the GP has too. All I'm saying is that I've personally had no trouble, thus disproving the assertion that it's impossible to self-host. I don't know what I've done differently - perhaps I'm lucky with the IP range that I'm in?

IP range is definitely a problem. I manage to get blacklisted a couple times per year by Hotmail, who still only support IPv4, despite SNDS always saying everything is fine. They don’t seem to care that blocking a whole IPv4 netrange of a reputable VPS provider because some other customer was sending junk mail will cause collateral damage.

IP/domain reputation is also probably an issue; I’ve been using the same IP address and domain names for over a decade so services like Talos are reasonably satisfied I’m harmless. If someone sets up a server and it has never sent mail for their domain before—or, worse, they get a radioactive IP address—it may be hard to become accepted by other email providers.

I get the sense that the relative lack of trouble I have maintaining a mail server is more to do with being effectively grandfathered in and worry that if I ever have to shift away from my current provider that email sending is going to become a lot harder since I won’t have my IP reputation any more.

Re: Inactive Google Account Policy

#77

Post by qingcharles »

hsbauauvhabzb wrote: post #56
qingcharles wrote: post #48

Now if only I could get the data out of my account. I've spent far too long arguing with people at Google, but I can't get into my account because I lost the phone number attached to it, even though I have the password, and a recovery email address and all the mail from my Gmail gets forwarded to that address as it comes in. They say I have no right to my data since I can't log into the account, but I don't think the…

I had a scenario where the reset flow to my account wasn’t working - it would send the code, but the code would not work. Google had no ability to speak to a human, and don’t care about me or you in the slightest.

There is officially no way to speak to a human. I'm in the same reset flow trap.

I wanted to get my data out, and there are various laws in various jurisdictions that require this ability. Because of this Google was forced to provide tech support via phone to help you get your data out. Believe me, I've spent a lot of time arguing with those folks. They do have access to some sort of internal email/phone directory though with lots of interesting contacts they are willing to give you to get you off the phone, but I've not had success yet with any of them.

Re: Inactive Google Account Policy

#78

Post by az226 »

omoikane wrote: post #36
srik wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Google also reserves the right to delete data in a product if you are inactive in that product for at least two years. This part is unreasonable no? I sometimes don't use a product for a while, like google drive for instance, and the prospect of coming back to it and discovering that all my data has been deleted is a bit on the dreadful side. I don't want to have to keep track of which product Ive been using and ho…

Are you finding the "delete data" part unreasonable, or the "two years" part? If it's the duration, I am curious what time limit you might find reasonable. If it's the "delete data" part, I can see why a company might not serve a piece of data in perpetuity when an user appear to have abandoned it, unless we want the company to assume ownership of that data.

I think the product is the bad part. Should be if an account is inactive then they can delete data not if a product hasn’t been used. If you use gmail, your gdrive shouldn’t empty even if it has been 2+ years since you used the drive.

Re: Inactive Google Account Policy

#79

Post by dataflow »

zarzavat wrote: post #59
dataflow wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, this is just my guess; I could be wrong. But the vibe I get is that you basically have to do something non-trivial via the web (log in, create something, delete something, whatever) to show that a human is paying attention to the account and not just an automated system. Don't rely on automated means like IMAP, regardless of what actions you're performing with those.

I assume it’s tied to logging in or using the account while logged in. Email is a separate system, it’s possible they linked up the email system to the accounts system, but the easiest way to implement this would just be to update a timestamp every time someone logs in or makes an authenticated browser request.

> but the easiest way to implement this would just be to update a timestamp every time someone logs in

You don't have to speculate here. They clearly say "Activity might include these actions you take when you sign in or while you’re signed: Reading or sending an email, Using Google Search, etc."

So it's not just "did they log in".

Re: Inactive Google Account Policy

#80

Post by epylar »

distantsounds wrote: post #32
palijer wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Don't depend on "free" for critical functions. All the cards are stacked against the users though. It's not that easy for a non-tech person to use any sort of email/photo library etc that isn't free from Google/Apple etc. Even self hosting email is impossible now. You won't be able to send emails because nothing trusts you. If Google intentionally incentivized everyone to move their entire digital lives into their p…

singing up for email isn't difficult. neither is paying for a place to store your photos. Google is just that much easier so anything require beyond that is now all of a sudden too difficult for the average user. that's on you and your own inherent laziness to take the easy way out.

Some people have mental or physical chronic illnesses that make these things legitimate barriers.
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