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Which is why you split the difference. Own your own domain, and host at a reputable, reliable mail service provider like Fastmail. If you get taken down by a TO

by aeadio 3y ago

Which is why you split the difference. Own your own domain, and host at a reputable, reliable mail service provider like Fastmail. If you get taken down by a TOS violation, you didn’t lose your email address, just the contents of your inbox — which you hopefully have backed up, at least in your local mail client. Update your MX records to a new mail provider, and you haven’t lost what’s essentially your digital identity at many SaaS services. Everyone in my family has their own domain. The instructions for renewing a domain, a list of reputable mail service providers, and instructions for pointing MX records at a new service provider, are not very complicated for somebody that can work a computer at a basic level of productivity. Many email service providers will even run nameservers on your behalf so you don’t even have to mess with individual DNS records. You can fit that in about one formatted page of instructions to include in your online contingency plan you share with love one(s).

heleninboodler 3y ago
Note also that a dedicated email service like Fastmail has a lot fewer ways you can accidentally violate TOS than, say, GMail. Your google account can get TOS'd for activity on YouTube, Drive, Chat, Photos, Docs, Blogger, etc. When was the last time you heard about someone getting TOS'd for the contents of an email being misunderstood?
ffsm8 3y ago
> Which is why you split the difference. Own your own domain, and host at a reputable, reliable mail service provider like Fastmail. I do the same, but your argument is a little dishonest: You can lose your custom domain and lose your provider account, so you've essentially gone from one point of failure to two. The novelty domain is totally worth it though, at least to me. Honestly, the state should provide every citizen an official email address and make it a requirement that every invoice, contract etc is provided to this account...
- ornornor 3y ago
  Not sure about the privacy ramifications if that though.
  - ffsm8 3y ago
    You mean wrt the state provided email address? That's solvable issue with multiple solutions. I.e. making the address routeable to another provider by configuration. Imagine an address like yourchoice@$identifier.TLD.mail The state could give you the option to set the MX record for this subdomain to a provider of your choice

by aeadio 3y ago

heleninboodler 3y ago

Note also that a dedicated email service like Fastmail has a lot fewer ways you can accidentally violate TOS than, say, GMail. Your google account can get TOS'd for activity on YouTube, Drive, Chat, Photos, Docs, Blogger, etc. When was the last time you heard about someone getting TOS'd for the contents of an email being misunderstood?

ffsm8 3y ago

> Which is why you split the difference. Own your own domain, and host at a reputable, reliable mail service provider like Fastmail. I do the same, but your argument is a little dishonest: You can lose your custom domain and lose your provider account, so you've essentially gone from one point of failure to two. The novelty domain is totally worth it though, at least to me. Honestly, the state should provide every citizen an official email address and make it a requirement that every invoice, contract etc is provided to this account...

ornornor 3y ago
Not sure about the privacy ramifications if that though.
- ffsm8 3y ago
  You mean wrt the state provided email address? That's solvable issue with multiple solutions. I.e. making the address routeable to another provider by configuration. Imagine an address like yourchoice@$identifier.TLD.mail The state could give you the option to set the MX record for this subdomain to a provider of your choice