Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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I want to delete my Google account but i have a specific fear (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 months ago by intothesky@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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What if i forget to delete some old accounts associated with the google email address? Will someone be able to take control of them? And my data will be there forever too.

What method do you use to find the old accounts to delete? Unfortunately i delete all emails after receiving them.

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[–] thayerw@lemmy.ca 58 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

No, once you delete a Google account it can never be used again, by anyone (link).

I use a password manager (KeePass XC/DX) to track all of my accounts.

In your situation, I would update whatever accounts you do know about to the new email address you intend to use. Set Gmail to forward emails to this account too, and then stop using Gmail for everyday mail. Leave your Google account active for a year and see if any issues crop up.

[–] thayerw@lemmy.ca 36 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Just replying to my own comment to say that folks should think very carefully about switching to a personal domain name for email, for the very reason mentioned by the OP.

What if your domain registration lapses and someone else grabs it? What if you can't afford the cost five years from now? What if you just don't like the domain name someday? All of these reasons will be problematic and some can result in identity theft and significant fraud. It's definitely not a decision to be taken lightly, particularly if you have a lot of online accounts.

[–] digger@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 months ago

Not exactly the same scenario, but close enough for proof of concept.

https://inti.io/p/when-privacy-expires-how-i-got-access

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