Rely On Webmail At Your Peril

[AlanHo]

One of my friends cannot access his Hotmail account.

When he tries to log on he gets a message stating that they have detected suspicious activity and his account has been blocked. He has spent a couple of days trying to get the problem resolved but has met a problem because he cannot prove he is the account holder. They are demanding answers to some security questions including his date of birth - but he opened the account several years ago and used a fictitious name, address and birth date because he considered it was none of their business. He has no idea what information he used, neither can he remember the answer to his memorable question.

He was hoping I could come up with a solution - but I too am stumped. I did some Googling - only to discover that he is far from alone - there are loads of people with blocked Hotmail and Gmail web based accounts who are locked out.

As it happens he has his contacts data on his phone - so he has not lost them - but he was using MS skydrive as a backup medium which uses his Hotmail identity for access - so he is also locked out of that. Furthermore, there is a similar problem with his kids XBox which needs internet access for some reason I don't understand, which again needs him to use his Hotmail identity. So he is in a bit of a pickle - but he should be able to recover from it - albeit with considerable inconvenience. I have recommended he get himself an external hard drive and Acronis to back up his computer locally. He has the full MS office suite so I have recommended he use Outlook and revive his dormant BT Email account so he can keep his Email stuff local and back that up too. This of course means he has to notify all his contacts and numerous commercial organisations of his new Email address. It is not until you change your Email address that you realise that it is not easy - there is bound to be some important contacts you overlook - and I am speaking from experience.

I have never used any cloud based facility for critical information and although I have Hotmail and Gmail accounts I don't use them for any communications of importance. I have used MS Outlook for many years because I always felt discomforted by relying on web based services.

So my message is simple - if you rely on a web based system that is tied to Hotmail, Gmail or any other service that you could get locked out of for no fault of your own - make sure you back up your valuable information locally.

My Googling revealed the following advice on another forum....

If your gmail or hotmail accounts are compromised – perhaps by a spammer or hijacker – and Google or Microsoft then decide that you have violated its terms and conditions, they may well cancel or disable your account without notice. You will wake up one day and find that you cannot log onto your Email. Unbeknown to you, your friends and acquaintances will get a message that your Email address no longer exists when they try to send you an Email. If you have no back-up on your computer - several years of data and your address book will have vanished without trace.

If you also use other Google services like Google Docs, Picasa or Google reader to store your stuff – without an independent back-up - you will instantly lose all your photos and data stored on the Google servers because to log onto these services you require your Email address – which no longer exists.

It can be even worse if you also own an android phone which uses your Google ID to synchronise apps on your device. You will lose access to all your Android market downloads – even the ones you paid for.

What about those poor unfortunates who rushed out and bought the latest and greatest Google Chromebook laptops which use the Google Chrome OS – they will now be staring at £400 worth of blank screen because their Google ID is lost. You can’t even back up a Chromebook – everything is cloud based.

Search the internet for “Gmail (or Hotmail) account locked” and you will see that there are pages of desperate forum postings where people have not been able to get Google or Microsoft to restore their ID and their data has therefore been lost. Trying to get the situation resolved has proved to be, for many, an exercise in futility. Big brother has decided that your account has been used in a way that violates their terms – and you are stuffed.

The message is that if you let Google, Microsoft or any other large organisation take control of your data without a bullet proof independent back-up strategy, you run the risk of losing it - through no fault of your own.

Losing your Google or Microsoft ID can have consequences you may not have thought of.

[Irene]

Your friend certainly has a dilemma. I can well understand the reasons for using fictitious information.

I found myself becoming increasing unable to remember all ID's and passwords for the many varied applications and website which I use. Consequently, I started using an A-Z indexed book (at home) where I now record all relevant information. It has saved 'my bacon' on a number of occasions! The only thing you have to remember, is to update anything you change on line. ;)

[Gandalph]

Well said "My little Daffodil", I also use an indexed notebook to keep all my information in at home. It's the only way to remember, at times, all the different passwords and user names that one uses. :)

[Irene]

Great minds think alike then :D

[andsome]

Your friend certainly has a dilemma. I can well understand the reasons for using fictitious information.

I found myself becoming increasing unable to remember all ID's and passwords for the many varied applications and website which I use. Consequently, I started using an A-Z indexed book (at home) where I now record all relevant information. It has saved 'my bacon' on a number of occasions! The only thing you have to remember, is to update anything you change on line. ;)

I have pass words in a folder on a memory stick. I never type them in, I prefer to copy and paste from the folder. No chance of key loggers.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

I only use Gmail as a web-based email account, for the not-so-important stuff. But yes, that Gmail address I use for login on countless places.

Google has put up a number of security measures over the years, to ensure that you can regain control over your account in the case it gets hacked. The main thing is to have another email address that can be used to confirm your ownership of the Gmail account.

Of course all the other information you used to set up the account need to be accurate.