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I was so happy when I was able to get my (exceedingly common) full name as my gmail address. 1.x decades later, I regret it. I get people's medical informatio

I was so happy when I was able to get my (exceedingly common) full name as my gmail address. 1.x decades later, I regret it. I get people's medical information, legal documentation, all of it. It is stunning to me the quantity of PII that flows into my inbox daily. Back when it was a trickle, I used to try and contact the people involved to let them know of the issue. It almost never worked out, and I got tired of getting yelled at. At this point, I keep my account simply because if I were to close it, I don't trust whomever might have it next. It is what it is.

flatline 6y ago
My email address most recently was used for some online courses at a .mil address. They took me off their list when I asked, the amount of notifications was pretty incredible. It’s been used for dental records in Oklahoma and to buy heavy machinery in Germany. It’s still obscure enough not to be a real problem, so it’s mostly amusing.
theshadowknows 6y ago
I share a name with a famous person and my first and last name are also my email address (@ a certain mail service) and I often get receipts for things he’s purchased as well as personal correspondence. When it’s a person I always respond and say that unfortunately I’m not the person they’re looking for just so they know.
- BrandonM 6y ago
  That sounds like something a famous person would say!
- peteri 6y ago
  Ah my friend Rupert Goodwins got a lot of email via gmail for Rupert Grint and he wrote about it here back in 2004. https://www.zdnet.com/article/rupert-goodwins-diary-3039172865/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/rupert-goodwins-diary-30391728...
mrkstu 6y ago
Yep, I secured a firstnamelastname.gmail (both common) for my wife early in gmail's life- and its very useful for ease in sharing. I have a similar .mac/.me/.icloud email. Unfortunately the innumerable 1,2,3 ended users of the same email get wearying to deal with for both of us. We both have persistent UK versions of ourselves, lots of offers for free tickets to football games in the UK that I have to regretfully pass up; as well as a variety of other people that we've managed to classify by geography. The PII stuff is really the hard part- real estate documents, job offers, legal communications, x-rays, etc. You want to help but often it just generates a lot of heat without helping.
myself248 6y ago
I feel like you could simply stop using it, set up a vacation auto-responder, and log in once in a while to keep it from expiring and reverting to someone unseemly. This whole thread is the reason I started requiring extra email verification when members signed up at our hackerspace/makerspace. A surprising number of otherwise-bright people don't know their own email address.
- Baeocystin 6y ago
  Honestly, I'm not far from doing exactly that. It's just frustrating to be forced from one's own name by nothing more than legions of derppelgängers, you know?
Rebelgecko 6y ago
I have my not-so-common name as my gmail address and I still get a ton of crap. The most frustrating is from a power company in Ohio that sends me billing statements every month. I contacted them to ask them to stop emailing me because I'm not the intended recipient. They said they can't stop emailing me because only the account holder is allowed to change the email preferences. Apparently my only recourse is to reset the password on the account and claim it as my own... for the last few years I've just been deleting the monthly emails. I also get fun things like family photos from people I've never met before
- ben509 6y ago
  You can threaten to report them to regulators for knowingly sending non-public personal information to a third-party.
woko 6y ago
I have the same issue. I never waste time trying to find a way to forwards these emails to the right people, because I am extremely suspicious, so I often assume there is a phishing attempt behind these emails. I mean, often, money is mentioned in the email (like booking a hotel, a bill, a car insurance, Internet subscription, etc.). It might be legit, but it is not worth the hassle for me, and it is none of my business anyway.
techslave 6y ago
gmail burns addresses forever. no one else will get it if you close it.
- Baeocystin 6y ago
  ...for now, yes. I just don't trust them to keep that policy, you know? Microsoft & Yahoo already recycle, and I am willing to bet that Google will eventually, too.

flatline 6y ago

My email address most recently was used for some online courses at a .mil address. They took me off their list when I asked, the amount of notifications was pretty incredible. It’s been used for dental records in Oklahoma and to buy heavy machinery in Germany. It’s still obscure enough not to be a real problem, so it’s mostly amusing.

theshadowknows 6y ago

I share a name with a famous person and my first and last name are also my email address (@ a certain mail service) and I often get receipts for things he’s purchased as well as personal correspondence. When it’s a person I always respond and say that unfortunately I’m not the person they’re looking for just so they know.

BrandonM 6y ago
That sounds like something a famous person would say!
peteri 6y ago
Ah my friend Rupert Goodwins got a lot of email via gmail for Rupert Grint and he wrote about it here back in 2004. https://www.zdnet.com/article/rupert-goodwins-diary-3039172865/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/rupert-goodwins-diary-30391728...

mrkstu 6y ago

Yep, I secured a firstnamelastname.gmail (both common) for my wife early in gmail's life- and its very useful for ease in sharing. I have a similar .mac/.me/.icloud email. Unfortunately the innumerable 1,2,3 ended users of the same email get wearying to deal with for both of us. We both have persistent UK versions of ourselves, lots of offers for free tickets to football games in the UK that I have to regretfully pass up; as well as a variety of other people that we've managed to classify by geography. The PII stuff is really the hard part- real estate documents, job offers, legal communications, x-rays, etc. You want to help but often it just generates a lot of heat without helping.

myself248 6y ago

I feel like you could simply stop using it, set up a vacation auto-responder, and log in once in a while to keep it from expiring and reverting to someone unseemly. This whole thread is the reason I started requiring extra email verification when members signed up at our hackerspace/makerspace. A surprising number of otherwise-bright people don't know their own email address.

Baeocystin 6y ago
Honestly, I'm not far from doing exactly that. It's just frustrating to be forced from one's own name by nothing more than legions of derppelgängers, you know?

Rebelgecko 6y ago

I have my not-so-common name as my gmail address and I still get a ton of crap. The most frustrating is from a power company in Ohio that sends me billing statements every month. I contacted them to ask them to stop emailing me because I'm not the intended recipient. They said they can't stop emailing me because only the account holder is allowed to change the email preferences. Apparently my only recourse is to reset the password on the account and claim it as my own... for the last few years I've just been deleting the monthly emails. I also get fun things like family photos from people I've never met before

ben509 6y ago
You can threaten to report them to regulators for knowingly sending non-public personal information to a third-party.

woko 6y ago

I have the same issue. I never waste time trying to find a way to forwards these emails to the right people, because I am extremely suspicious, so I often assume there is a phishing attempt behind these emails. I mean, often, money is mentioned in the email (like booking a hotel, a bill, a car insurance, Internet subscription, etc.). It might be legit, but it is not worth the hassle for me, and it is none of my business anyway.

techslave 6y ago

gmail burns addresses forever. no one else will get it if you close it.

Baeocystin 6y ago
...for now, yes. I just don't trust them to keep that policy, you know? Microsoft & Yahoo already recycle, and I am willing to bet that Google will eventually, too.