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For a long time Amazon’s unique ID for accounts was email + password. So people that forgot their password would end up with two separate accounts using the sam

by User23 3y ago

For a long time Amazon’s unique ID for accounts was email + password. So people that forgot their password would end up with two separate accounts using the same login name and which one they got depended on the password.

dastbe 3y ago
this was done to support a historically common pattern: people sharing email addresses who still wanted distinct accounts.
- ceejayoz 3y ago
  What about the historically common pattern of forgetting the password?
  - lostmsu 3y ago
    I've seen companies ask you to enter any password that you remember.
    - ceejayoz 3y ago
      That’s horrifically insecure. Anyone in a haveibeenpwned dataset would be a sitting duck, and that’s… most of us.
      - lostmsu 3y ago
        Oh no, it is only for resetting password. Like in addition to asking for email.
  - explaininjs 3y ago
    You don’t really lose anything by losing your Amazon account. It’s not like precious data is stored there. It might make returns more difficult, but in some sense that’s a feature from their perspective, and in any case it’s just another entry in their master support call center flow chart
    - ceejayoz 3y ago
      I would lose all my purchased Kindle books. Until this year, quite a few people would've also lost their AWS access that way.
      - explaininjs 3y ago
        Sure, but I believe this predates Kindle. Either way, that’s a matter for the call center flow chart to handle. Not everything needs to be in software.