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This is why I like Google Fi. It is much harder to do account takeout over of a Google Fi number compared to most telecos. The attacker would have to take over

by kyrra 2y ago

This is why I like Google Fi. It is much harder to do account takeout over of a Google Fi number compared to most telecos. The attacker would have to take over the Google account which seemed to be harder to do.

lokar 2y ago
I agree, and also use Fi But, I worry about what happens if I somehow get locked out of the account…
- edoceo 2y ago
  Just post on socials (that you can still access) about being locked out and then hope for the best?
  - lokar 2y ago
    Well, for now, I still have former co-workers there who can help, but that won’t last forever.
    - kyrra 2y ago
      For the most part, the "have a friend at Google" doesn't help anymore. They even tell us googlers to use the external process when our account gets locked.
- jopsen 2y ago
  Verifying people after account loss/compromise is hard. So which would you prefer: (A) A low-level customer service representative can restore your access, but said representative is arguably susceptible to social engineering and other human weaknesses. (B) Your account can be protected be physically 2FA key (yubikey), but on the case of loss/compromised account processes for recovery are hard to navigate and may not yield successful recovery? In the case of (A) you have little security. In the case of (B) you can do a LOT to prevent account loss, but if bad things happen (whether your fault or not) you are locked out by default. From a privacy point of view, I'm not sure that (B) is such a bad option.
  - 9cb14c1ec0 2y ago
    We need both, clearly advertised for what they are, and then all everyone can make their own risk calculus.
  - e40 2y ago
    You can mitigate (B) by using your own domain with Google Fi and the basic workspace account. That way, if you are locked out you can switch providers taking your domain with you.
    - jopsen 2y ago
      You still loose data stored, phone number, etc. But you could make the argument you should do backup of cloud services, the same way you do backup of hard drives.
      - e40 2y ago
        True, but my Google Fi is attached to a free gmail account (because there is NO way to attach it to a Workspace account!!). For my Workspace account, I backup with Google Takeout every 2 months to Backblaze B2. I also sync (with rclone) My Drive to a local directory, which is weekly uploaded to B2.

by kyrra 2y ago

lokar 2y ago

I agree, and also use Fi But, I worry about what happens if I somehow get locked out of the account…

edoceo 2y ago
Just post on socials (that you can still access) about being locked out and then hope for the best?
- lokar 2y ago
  Well, for now, I still have former co-workers there who can help, but that won’t last forever.
  - kyrra 2y ago
    For the most part, the "have a friend at Google" doesn't help anymore. They even tell us googlers to use the external process when our account gets locked.
jopsen 2y ago
Verifying people after account loss/compromise is hard. So which would you prefer: (A) A low-level customer service representative can restore your access, but said representative is arguably susceptible to social engineering and other human weaknesses. (B) Your account can be protected be physically 2FA key (yubikey), but on the case of loss/compromised account processes for recovery are hard to navigate and may not yield successful recovery? In the case of (A) you have little security. In the case of (B) you can do a LOT to prevent account loss, but if bad things happen (whether your fault or not) you are locked out by default. From a privacy point of view, I'm not sure that (B) is such a bad option.
- 9cb14c1ec0 2y ago
  We need both, clearly advertised for what they are, and then all everyone can make their own risk calculus.
- e40 2y ago
  You can mitigate (B) by using your own domain with Google Fi and the basic workspace account. That way, if you are locked out you can switch providers taking your domain with you.
  - jopsen 2y ago
    You still loose data stored, phone number, etc. But you could make the argument you should do backup of cloud services, the same way you do backup of hard drives.
    - e40 2y ago
      True, but my Google Fi is attached to a free gmail account (because there is NO way to attach it to a Workspace account!!). For my Workspace account, I backup with Google Takeout every 2 months to Backblaze B2. I also sync (with rclone) My Drive to a local directory, which is weekly uploaded to B2.