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Ungoogle yourself. Don't rely on google. I had transferred a quite valuable DID number to my Project Fi phone. Due to unfortunate circumstances I was not able t

Ungoogle yourself. Don't rely on google. I had transferred a quite valuable DID number to my Project Fi phone. Due to unfortunate circumstances I was not able to pay for a while. I lost: 1. The valuable number 2. Access to my Gmail Account. I know my PW but gmail won't let me log into gmail without confirming with the number that I lost. Hence, my gmail account is gone 3. Paid apps. I lost apps I paid for and that were linked to my phone or email, e.g. threma, insync etc. Had a lawyer write to google. No answer. Don't rely on google for anything important. I have a new gmail for my Android. I don't even know it out of my head since I don't use it. Why would I? At least Tuta has support. Somebody you can contact. But I prefer to control the domain too. Germany/US Based? I would prefer Switzerland or Iceland compared to EU/US jurisdictions.

2Gkashmiri 3y ago
I seem to have an old yahoo email that I had set up 2fa about 8 years ago. Recently it logged me out abruptly and wont let me back in. That number is with someone else and they are fearing otp hijacking and have blocked me. I have a considerable number of accounts liked to that so I am kinda in the soup. Urrrgh. Is there no standardized way to solve these problems ? I can give details about the email, recovery number, aliases, settings, last emails I remember Has no one faced these problems ?
- beeboobaa3 3y ago
  The only way to solve it is to own your own domain and to make sure that you always pay for it. The catch is that you have to do this from the start. I'm hopeful that governments will eventually realize how impactful this is, and mandate email provides to implement forwarding services after an account is closed and they have verified your identity, possibly via government ID.
  - Beijinger 3y ago
    This is true. But let's face it. I don't know of any self hosted email that is as good as gmail. Maybe fastmail?
    - qingcharles 3y ago
      I've used Fastmail for about 20 years now. It is awesome. Gmail is just a backup for me.
    - beeboobaa3 3y ago
      That's why I use gmail with my own domain. If they ever fuck me, I can point my MX records at a new provider. I do have to pay them for the privilege of using my own domain, but at least that way I'm not the product.
- qingcharles 3y ago
  There's no solution I've found yet, and I've expended some serious energy in trying to solve it. I've thought about taking a tent down to Goog HQ and just setting up there and waiting until someone hears me out.
  - 2Gkashmiri 3y ago
    heck, i live on the other side of the globe (haa, take that flat earthers /s) so i am stuck.
qingcharles 3y ago
I'm in the same boat, even though I have the email, password and recovery email; and all the emails from the account forward to me. If all of us who are locked out of our Google accounts got together and made a HN post, we might be able to get it on the front page, which is the only officially-recognized support channel for Google now.
- Beijinger 3y ago
  I have access too at my recovery email. But without my old phone.... Again, my lawyer wrote them a letter via snail mail. No response.
  - qingcharles 3y ago
    The only way I can think is to pay someone to intercept the SMS messages and get the 2FA code that way. I never set up 2FA on my account, Google did it for me after I had lost the number.
mukti 3y ago
I was considering switching over to Tuta, but haven't spent the time on it yet. Did you end up moving to another provider or hosting your own?
- Beijinger 3y ago
  Yes. I have domains with internet.bs and buy email hosting separete from https://www.infomaniak.com/en https://www.infomaniak.com/en Just put your domain name for registration. It will say it is registered already but then offers you the option to buy email hosting. I think it is 18 Euros for 5 Email accounts per year. It is based in Switzerland. Australian fastmail may be better - I don't have experience myself - but it starts at 60 dollars a year. Maybe someone who is a user can give feedback here. Regarding infomaniak: They offer a free email service (without your own domain). Maybe you try it out to get a feel if this is right for you and your domain: https://www.infomaniak.com/en/free-email https://www.infomaniak.com/en/free-email And hands off to apps that have a registration code. E.g. pleco. They are not linked to your email and you don't lose them if your gmail is gone...
  - Beijinger 3y ago
    Or cheapest solution: internet.bs has email forwarding for free, like many other registrars. You could use it only for service registration and not for emailing. But sometimes companies insist you email them with the registered email and you won't be able to do this then.

2Gkashmiri 3y ago

I seem to have an old yahoo email that I had set up 2fa about 8 years ago. Recently it logged me out abruptly and wont let me back in. That number is with someone else and they are fearing otp hijacking and have blocked me. I have a considerable number of accounts liked to that so I am kinda in the soup. Urrrgh. Is there no standardized way to solve these problems ? I can give details about the email, recovery number, aliases, settings, last emails I remember Has no one faced these problems ?

beeboobaa3 3y ago
The only way to solve it is to own your own domain and to make sure that you always pay for it. The catch is that you have to do this from the start. I'm hopeful that governments will eventually realize how impactful this is, and mandate email provides to implement forwarding services after an account is closed and they have verified your identity, possibly via government ID.
- Beijinger 3y ago
  This is true. But let's face it. I don't know of any self hosted email that is as good as gmail. Maybe fastmail?
  - qingcharles 3y ago
    I've used Fastmail for about 20 years now. It is awesome. Gmail is just a backup for me.
  - beeboobaa3 3y ago
    That's why I use gmail with my own domain. If they ever fuck me, I can point my MX records at a new provider. I do have to pay them for the privilege of using my own domain, but at least that way I'm not the product.
qingcharles 3y ago
There's no solution I've found yet, and I've expended some serious energy in trying to solve it. I've thought about taking a tent down to Goog HQ and just setting up there and waiting until someone hears me out.
- 2Gkashmiri 3y ago
  heck, i live on the other side of the globe (haa, take that flat earthers /s) so i am stuck.

qingcharles 3y ago

I'm in the same boat, even though I have the email, password and recovery email; and all the emails from the account forward to me. If all of us who are locked out of our Google accounts got together and made a HN post, we might be able to get it on the front page, which is the only officially-recognized support channel for Google now.

Beijinger 3y ago
I have access too at my recovery email. But without my old phone.... Again, my lawyer wrote them a letter via snail mail. No response.
- qingcharles 3y ago
  The only way I can think is to pay someone to intercept the SMS messages and get the 2FA code that way. I never set up 2FA on my account, Google did it for me after I had lost the number.

mukti 3y ago

I was considering switching over to Tuta, but haven't spent the time on it yet. Did you end up moving to another provider or hosting your own?

Beijinger 3y ago
Yes. I have domains with internet.bs and buy email hosting separete from https://www.infomaniak.com/en https://www.infomaniak.com/en Just put your domain name for registration. It will say it is registered already but then offers you the option to buy email hosting. I think it is 18 Euros for 5 Email accounts per year. It is based in Switzerland. Australian fastmail may be better - I don't have experience myself - but it starts at 60 dollars a year. Maybe someone who is a user can give feedback here. Regarding infomaniak: They offer a free email service (without your own domain). Maybe you try it out to get a feel if this is right for you and your domain: https://www.infomaniak.com/en/free-email https://www.infomaniak.com/en/free-email And hands off to apps that have a registration code. E.g. pleco. They are not linked to your email and you don't lose them if your gmail is gone...
- Beijinger 3y ago
  Or cheapest solution: internet.bs has email forwarding for free, like many other registrars. You could use it only for service registration and not for emailing. But sometimes companies insist you email them with the registered email and you won't be able to do this then.