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I deliberately keep around an old Android phone in the event disaster strikes there is a teeny chance that logged in device might save me. If the Google machin

I deliberately keep around an old Android phone in the event disaster strikes there is a teeny chance that logged in device might save me. If the Google machine decides to cull me, probably nothing I can do, but it costs me nothing to keep it sitting in a drawer.

Erratic6576 3y ago
Back in the 2000’s, we were dreaming of what would come next from Google. Then, in the 2010’s, we started to wonder what would be discontinued. Now, in 2020’s, we dread being locked out of Google accounts. I closed mine during the lockdown. My school cancelled my huge Cryptomator backup on Google. Now, work provides me with one but I can no longer rely on Google for anything crucial.
- ThatMedicIsASpy 3y ago
  I moved away a while ago. The only thing I still use would be youtube playlists. But even those are trash since they just say we've removed some because of whatever. Thanks I guess I would like to know which song you threw away! Now I pay 1€ a month for mail.
- sircastor 3y ago
  I have been slowly migrating/backing up everything related to my Google account. I’m just not confident that the ghost in the machine won’t decide randomly one day I’m not worthy of continued access. In another light, it’s a reminder that Google doesn’t really think of these accounts as ours, but theirs.
  - eastbound 3y ago
    What spreadsheet tool do you use at work? I put my company on a competitor for Gmail, but then we still had to open Google accounts for Google Ads and Youtube and GDrive. Now I wonder whether I should officially subscribe, just for consistency.
- taneq 3y ago
  A few years ago I started getting increasingly worried about my Gmail account being a single point of failure for basically my entire life. Along with Google’s evolution into an evil empire this prompted me to completely excise them from my life. It took a couple of years to transition all my less-used accounts to my new email but the peace of mind is worth it.
  - Roark66 3y ago
    So which email provider would you say is more reliable? Self hosting on AWS etc? Edit:also, how do you replicate access to email/calendars across devices? (smartphones/PC)
    - idontwantthis 3y ago
      If you own the domain then you should still be able to use the account even if you get kicked off of a provider.
      - swixmix 3y ago
        And receiving email at your own server is trivial.
        Roark66 3y ago
        Yes it's trivial, but I'm asking for a commercial provider one can trust that uses software that doesn't suck horribly and one that doesn't just cut you off immediately if your payment to them fails, or locks your account until you phone them if you try the password too many times etc. If I wanted to host my own I wouldn't ask about providers... Email these days is about much more than just email. Calendar integration and sync between devices that lets you access email on said devices as well as resiliency one would want for an essential service mean just "hosting your own" is definitely not trivial. Then there is antispam etc.
        Erratic6576 3y ago
        For me, it’s cheaper and easier to pay someone else
- never_inline 3y ago
  I am just following the High Availability principle and using both Microsoft and Google equivalents, with most data having a local copy anyway.
skybrian 3y ago
Printing out backup codes [1] and keeping them with your important papers is probably a good idea too. [1] https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1187538 https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1187538
- fbdab103 3y ago
  I do have the backup codes, though I read an anecdote from someone where Google refused to accept the backup code. Because of course they can do that. Email is just so sticky, it is really hard to make the switch, but I know that it just takes some butterfly wings to upset the blackbox.
  - maccard 3y ago
    Can you share that anecdote? That seems absolutely wild to me and I've never even heard it suggested before your post
    - TheNewsIsHere 3y ago
      I am not the poster you replied to, but I’ve dealt with this in various forms. For a number of close family members Google has variously refused to accept valid recovery emails, valid recovery codes, and valid backup phone numbers in order to regain account access. Despite how ridiculous it is from a consistency and security perspective, your MFA- or backup contact- enrolled phone number with SMS is still essentially Google’s gold standard for determining rightful access to an account. Their auth and password reset processes are constantly changing and they have several steps that are automatically adaptive. The only foolproof ways I’m aware of to always retain access to your Google account is to enroll in Advanced Protection, and/or to use a paid Google Workspace account.
      - throwaway290 3y ago
        Recovery codes saved my ass a few times though. Advanced protection is a good pointer. Seems like losing the hardware token device can be a disaster? On the other hand giving a service money is dangerous. They would be making money from you which means stricter checks. I'm still semi banned on Github because they had my card with Russian billing address (for sponsoring) when Putler attacked Ukraine. Good I didn't pay for anything Google.
inquirerGeneral 3y ago
[dead]
gorlilla 3y ago
I use a pw manager with a key and key file. We just had a house fire on xmas eve, and my DR plan of having a laptop in the garage with the important bits failed as I had just brought the laptop in to look over everything because it was so cold outside. I was screwed as all of my PCs/laptops, Servers, tablets, etc...burned up or were flooded by fire dept. I found my phone 8 hours later on the basement floor where it had been submerged in 8" of water from the fire dept. Miraculously it was dead and just wanted to be charged. (Samsung s22, fwiw). I'm typing on that now and still have access to everything! Phew.... take your personal DR seriously.

Erratic6576 3y ago

Back in the 2000’s, we were dreaming of what would come next from Google. Then, in the 2010’s, we started to wonder what would be discontinued. Now, in 2020’s, we dread being locked out of Google accounts. I closed mine during the lockdown. My school cancelled my huge Cryptomator backup on Google. Now, work provides me with one but I can no longer rely on Google for anything crucial.

ThatMedicIsASpy 3y ago
I moved away a while ago. The only thing I still use would be youtube playlists. But even those are trash since they just say we've removed some because of whatever. Thanks I guess I would like to know which song you threw away! Now I pay 1€ a month for mail.
sircastor 3y ago
I have been slowly migrating/backing up everything related to my Google account. I’m just not confident that the ghost in the machine won’t decide randomly one day I’m not worthy of continued access. In another light, it’s a reminder that Google doesn’t really think of these accounts as ours, but theirs.
- eastbound 3y ago
  What spreadsheet tool do you use at work? I put my company on a competitor for Gmail, but then we still had to open Google accounts for Google Ads and Youtube and GDrive. Now I wonder whether I should officially subscribe, just for consistency.
taneq 3y ago
A few years ago I started getting increasingly worried about my Gmail account being a single point of failure for basically my entire life. Along with Google’s evolution into an evil empire this prompted me to completely excise them from my life. It took a couple of years to transition all my less-used accounts to my new email but the peace of mind is worth it.
- Roark66 3y ago
  So which email provider would you say is more reliable? Self hosting on AWS etc? Edit:also, how do you replicate access to email/calendars across devices? (smartphones/PC)
  - idontwantthis 3y ago
    If you own the domain then you should still be able to use the account even if you get kicked off of a provider.
    - swixmix 3y ago
      And receiving email at your own server is trivial.
      - Roark66 3y ago
        Yes it's trivial, but I'm asking for a commercial provider one can trust that uses software that doesn't suck horribly and one that doesn't just cut you off immediately if your payment to them fails, or locks your account until you phone them if you try the password too many times etc. If I wanted to host my own I wouldn't ask about providers... Email these days is about much more than just email. Calendar integration and sync between devices that lets you access email on said devices as well as resiliency one would want for an essential service mean just "hosting your own" is definitely not trivial. Then there is antispam etc.
      - Erratic6576 3y ago
        For me, it’s cheaper and easier to pay someone else
never_inline 3y ago
I am just following the High Availability principle and using both Microsoft and Google equivalents, with most data having a local copy anyway.

skybrian 3y ago

Printing out backup codes [1] and keeping them with your important papers is probably a good idea too. [1] https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1187538 https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1187538

fbdab103 3y ago
I do have the backup codes, though I read an anecdote from someone where Google refused to accept the backup code. Because of course they can do that. Email is just so sticky, it is really hard to make the switch, but I know that it just takes some butterfly wings to upset the blackbox.
- maccard 3y ago
  Can you share that anecdote? That seems absolutely wild to me and I've never even heard it suggested before your post
  - TheNewsIsHere 3y ago
    I am not the poster you replied to, but I’ve dealt with this in various forms. For a number of close family members Google has variously refused to accept valid recovery emails, valid recovery codes, and valid backup phone numbers in order to regain account access. Despite how ridiculous it is from a consistency and security perspective, your MFA- or backup contact- enrolled phone number with SMS is still essentially Google’s gold standard for determining rightful access to an account. Their auth and password reset processes are constantly changing and they have several steps that are automatically adaptive. The only foolproof ways I’m aware of to always retain access to your Google account is to enroll in Advanced Protection, and/or to use a paid Google Workspace account.
    - throwaway290 3y ago
      Recovery codes saved my ass a few times though. Advanced protection is a good pointer. Seems like losing the hardware token device can be a disaster? On the other hand giving a service money is dangerous. They would be making money from you which means stricter checks. I'm still semi banned on Github because they had my card with Russian billing address (for sponsoring) when Putler attacked Ukraine. Good I didn't pay for anything Google.

inquirerGeneral 3y ago

[dead]

gorlilla 3y ago

I use a pw manager with a key and key file. We just had a house fire on xmas eve, and my DR plan of having a laptop in the garage with the important bits failed as I had just brought the laptop in to look over everything because it was so cold outside. I was screwed as all of my PCs/laptops, Servers, tablets, etc...burned up or were flooded by fire dept. I found my phone 8 hours later on the basement floor where it had been submerged in 8" of water from the fire dept. Miraculously it was dead and just wanted to be charged. (Samsung s22, fwiw). I'm typing on that now and still have access to everything! Phew.... take your personal DR seriously.