Images: technorms If you think the online persona you’ve created for yourself is safe, think again. There are so many threats on the Web. Everything from viruses to phishing to threats you didn’t think were possible can occur online. Even Google is a threat.
Recently, I learned that without any warning or explanation, Google can snatch your online identity. Here’s my story.
How Google Snatches Online Identities
I received this e-mail from Google one morning to my primary Gmail account, the recovery account for said e-mail:
I read it a few times, checked the headers to make sure I wasn’t being phished, hovered over links to make sure they went to legitimate web sites and then I scratched my head.
My Gmail account has been deleted? What, Google?
I clicked on the link to recover the account and was met with this:
Again… What? You send me an e-mail that the account has been deleted with a recovery link and now I can’t recover it? What gives, Google?
Now, let me give your some background on this account. It was set up months ago to be used as a SMTP relay for contact forms on WordPress sites. Those contact forms would get sent directly to me, nobody else, so there’s no potential to spam anyone or hijack the e-mail addresses.The password was generated with 128 hex key configuration. The deletion and lack of recovery options was the first I heard from Google about any issues with the account. They were set up as Google recommends, falling their instructions for such a set-up.
I’ve since posted on the Google forums to try and figure out what I did wrong and how I can prevent this in the future. Since Google never sent me anything else, deleted the account before contacting me during a recovery time, I have no information on what happened. This means I could repeat the mistake in the future on an account I can’t afford to lose. Even if I comb through the Terms of Service, I have no way of knowing exactly what happened or why I received no notification to the actual account or recovery account until after they deleted it. I’m also miffed why they would include a recover link in the e-mail if they had no intention to let me attempt to correct any issues and had already deleted the account.
I have yet to hear back from Google about the issue and how I can prevent it, which is my main concern. I will update this post when, and if, I have more information. I was told Google is “looking into it” but that I won’t be given a reason for privacy concerns – even though it’s “my” account.
Luckily, this didn’t happen to my primary account and my online identity is intact. However, what if it had happened to my primary account? The one that’s been used for almost a decade now. The one that is tied to my Google+ account, my AuthorRank and a variety of other services I pay for with Google. I can’t even imagine what would happen if that Google account, which I’ve had since Gmail was in beta, went through what’s going on with these other accounts.
Trust me, I understand that Google is letting me use these services for free, that I agreed to a Terms of Service and what-not, it was just be helpful to know what happened so I can prevent it in the future. After some research, I see I’m not the only one to be caught in this cycle so any useful information we can pass on to help others overcome this would be beneficial to our readers, too.
Here’s bkc56′s response, which shocked me:
…what?
While this is helpful, it’s absolutely unhelpful. Why delete the account – make it seem completely unrecoverable – and then you can just magically recover it on Google’s end and give me access back without telling me how to avoid the same issue in the future? Did you believe I was honest and didn’t know what happened or did you just take the chance because I complained and inquired about it on a public forum?
This has been the most confusing, unfortunate set of events since I started using Gmail in its beta phase. I’ve never had real issues with Google products before and I fail to understand why you can’t tell a user why an account was disabled to begin with. I also don’t understand why you can’t alert a user to the fact either.
Don’t wait for Google to delete your account, make sure you’re abiding by their Terms of Service, even if you’re sure you already are. Otherwise, you may find all your hard work online, your Web presence and more gone without a chance to recover and no reasoning from Google at all.
The Original Article is Published at Technorms Here
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
I read it a few times, checked the headers to make sure I wasn’t being phished, hovered over links to make sure they went to legitimate web sites and then I scratched my head.
My Gmail account has been deleted? What, Google?
I clicked on the link to recover the account and was met with this:
Again… What? You send me an e-mail that the account has been deleted with a recovery link and now I can’t recover it? What gives, Google?
Now, let me give your some background on this account. It was set up months ago to be used as a SMTP relay for contact forms on WordPress sites. Those contact forms would get sent directly to me, nobody else, so there’s no potential to spam anyone or hijack the e-mail addresses.The password was generated with 128 hex key configuration. The deletion and lack of recovery options was the first I heard from Google about any issues with the account. They were set up as Google recommends, falling their instructions for such a set-up.
I’ve since posted on the Google forums to try and figure out what I did wrong and how I can prevent this in the future. Since Google never sent me anything else, deleted the account before contacting me during a recovery time, I have no information on what happened. This means I could repeat the mistake in the future on an account I can’t afford to lose. Even if I comb through the Terms of Service, I have no way of knowing exactly what happened or why I received no notification to the actual account or recovery account until after they deleted it. I’m also miffed why they would include a recover link in the e-mail if they had no intention to let me attempt to correct any issues and had already deleted the account.
I have yet to hear back from Google about the issue and how I can prevent it, which is my main concern. I will update this post when, and if, I have more information. I was told Google is “looking into it” but that I won’t be given a reason for privacy concerns – even though it’s “my” account.
Luckily, this didn’t happen to my primary account and my online identity is intact. However, what if it had happened to my primary account? The one that’s been used for almost a decade now. The one that is tied to my Google+ account, my AuthorRank and a variety of other services I pay for with Google. I can’t even imagine what would happen if that Google account, which I’ve had since Gmail was in beta, went through what’s going on with these other accounts.
Trust me, I understand that Google is letting me use these services for free, that I agreed to a Terms of Service and what-not, it was just be helpful to know what happened so I can prevent it in the future. After some research, I see I’m not the only one to be caught in this cycle so any useful information we can pass on to help others overcome this would be beneficial to our readers, too.
Getting My Account Back With No Explanation
On January 30, 2014, I received an update from Google forums user bkc56, who had been more helpful than any contact I made with Google about the account in question.Here’s bkc56′s response, which shocked me:
While this is helpful, it’s absolutely unhelpful. Why delete the account – make it seem completely unrecoverable – and then you can just magically recover it on Google’s end and give me access back without telling me how to avoid the same issue in the future? Did you believe I was honest and didn’t know what happened or did you just take the chance because I complained and inquired about it on a public forum?
This has been the most confusing, unfortunate set of events since I started using Gmail in its beta phase. I’ve never had real issues with Google products before and I fail to understand why you can’t tell a user why an account was disabled to begin with. I also don’t understand why you can’t alert a user to the fact either.
Conclusion
If you’re establishing yourself as an authority or presence on the Web, it’s important that you understand the consequences of what can happen if it all falls apart. I never considered, despite agreeing to a lengthy Google Terms of Service I didn’t read, that they could just delete an account for any reason and not even give me a chance to fix the issue or even respond to it.Don’t wait for Google to delete your account, make sure you’re abiding by their Terms of Service, even if you’re sure you already are. Otherwise, you may find all your hard work online, your Web presence and more gone without a chance to recover and no reasoning from Google at all.
The Original Article is Published at Technorms Here
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