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Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority
Google has constructed a ton of companies, all of them accessible by way of one account. The truth is, with a couple of exceptions right here and there (YouTube, Google Search, Google Maps), you possibly can’t really use many of the firm’s main companies with out creating an account within the first place.
Evidently, it’s very handy to have all these companies below one roof. Nevertheless, I’ve by no means felt 100% snug with one Google account for every little thing. Let me let you know why and what I do about it.
The issue with preserving all my eggs in Google’s basket
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
I’m certain it’s an irrational worry, however I’ve all the time had this latent concern about the potential of one thing taking place to my Google account. Whether or not it’s my account being hacked or Google shutting it down for no matter cause, I spotted very early on that an enormous a part of my digital life would go lacking if my Google account was not accessible.
An enormous a part of my digital life would go lacking if my Google account was not accessible.
That will imply no extra Gmail inbox, Play Retailer purchases, YouTube profile, Google Chrome shopping information, Drive recordsdata, YouTube Music, and Google Images backups. So I’d successfully have to begin my digital presence from scratch if I have been all in on the Mountain View behemoth’s companies.
Google isn’t any stranger to unwarranted bans or shutdowns
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
These fears aren’t precisely unfounded although, as Google’s algorithm-based strategy to enforcement means errors aren’t unusual and other people do generally get their account banned for no cause.
There are instances of Google taking a heavy-handed strategy to bans once they appear to be at fault, as one Redditor came upon again in 2018. The person had returned gadgets to Google however the firm charged his account anyway. Once they determined to dispute the transaction and concern a chargeback with their financial institution (after apparently contacting the corporate a number of instances), Google slapped them with a ban.
There isn’t any scarcity of tales relating to Google account-holders who obtained unfairly or mistakenly banned.
We’ve additionally even seen a couple of egregious examples of Google banning accounts that aren’t straight related to terms-of-service violations. For instance, the corporate reportedly banned the private account of cellular recreation developer Ali Nadalizadeh in addition to the enterprise account related along with his cellular recreation studio Raya Video games. This errant banning got here months after a former developer at Raya Video games had his private account banned within the first place. Nadalizadeh stated his request to enchantment the ban was declined, however Google reinstated the incorrectly banned accounts after the story went viral on Reddit.
Equally, Google unfairly banned customers for emote spam throughout YouTuber Markiplier’s stream again in November 2019, regardless of the host explicitly encouraging it. And these bans utilized to the customers’ total Google accounts relatively than their YouTube profiles.
Getting banned by Google on one service applies to all of its companies too.
That’s the draw back of getting all of those Google companies tied to 1 account: Getting banned by Google on one service applies to the remainder of its companies too.
Hacking is one other ever-present concern too, given the cat-and-mouse nature of digital safety.
One other occasion late final 12 months additionally strengthened my feeling that I ought to have extra options on faucet. My unique electronic mail account (by way of a long-running native South African service), which I’ve had for over 15 years, was inexplicably shut down late 12 months. I wasn’t the one one both, because it seems {that a} few other people reported that their accounts not existed.
One other electronic mail service shut down my 15-year account. What if Google did the identical?
Fortunately, I’d been steadily migrating away from this account over time, and it wasn’t a worldwide electronic mail service, to start with. Nonetheless, my prevailing thought was, “What if the identical factor occurred to my Google account?” I’ve seen sufficient Google companies die at this level that I do know nothing is unattainable.
Google’s carried out it earlier than: These failed Google merchandise might’ve been nice
So what do I do as a substitute?
Whereas I nonetheless use loads of Google companies, I’ve embraced options for so long as I’ve been utilizing smartphones. In spite of everything, it’s necessary to have viable challengers to Google because it creates competitors within the house and forces everybody to get higher. Microsoft’s OneDrive and Outlook are fairly useful on this regard, whereas I’ve additionally been utilizing Ecosia extra typically for my internet search wants on cellular.
Discover your match: Google One vs Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, and Apple iCloud
My main desktop browser is definitely Opera too. Sure, sure, Edge is a greater various nowadays, however Opera is a holdover from the times after I had a funds laptop computer and Google Chrome was arguably an excellent larger RAM hog than it’s proper now. I nonetheless use Chrome on my cellphone, however I’ve additionally been spending an increasing number of time with the wonderful Kiwi Browser owing to its Chrome extension help.
Microsoft One Drive, Ecosia search, Kiwi browser — there is not any scarcity of options to Google’s companies.
It would sound like I ought to simply drop Google utterly, however I’m not able to take the deGoogled route simply but. I’m completely happy to make use of the corporate’s companies and I’m principally conscious of the trade-offs by way of privateness. It’s additionally simply extremely handy to have one account for all Google companies.
Do you’ve gotten options to Google’s companies?
16 votes
What else are you able to do?
Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority
Apart from merely utilizing various companies and due to this fact placing your digital eggs in additional baskets, there are a couple of different measures you possibly can take to maintain your Google account protected.
For starters, you possibly can take wise precautions like utilizing two-factor authentication to your numerous accounts. This provides your account an additional layer of safety, requiring dangerous actors to have your cellphone as a way to achieve entry to your Google account.
On your safety, arrange two-factor authentication and keep away from utilizing Google’s built-in password supervisor.
The following step could be to keep away from utilizing Google’s built-in password supervisor. Since all of your account credentials are saved with Google, anybody with entry to your account would technically be capable of log in to lots of your different companies too. You’d even be locked out of each non-Google service for those who misplaced entry to your Google account and couldn’t keep in mind your credentials. A 3rd-party supervisor like LastPass or 1Password is a smart precaution as a result of it depends on a separate account and grasp password altogether.
Our picks: The most effective password supervisor apps on Android
One other tip is to arrange computerized electronic mail forwarding out of your Gmail inbox to a different electronic mail supplier. It’s also possible to make sure that you’ve separated your work and private information as a lot as attainable. This may be completed through the use of totally different Google accounts for work and private use, then establishing private and work profiles in Chrome, so your shopping information and credentials for work/dwelling are separated from one another. This could assist in an enormous manner if one account is compromised.
Separate your private and work accounts, ahead your emails, again up your information. Be sure to do not lose an excessive amount of by dropping a Google account.
You must also contemplate frequently backing up your information, both regionally or to different companies. For instance, you need to again up your Google Images and Google Drive content material to a different cloud storage service or to an exterior onerous drive. You would possibly wish to do the identical for YouTube and YouTube Music for those who’ve obtained content material on these companies. Utilizing Google Takeout can assist you get a downloadable model of all of your information.
Both manner, the probabilities of your Google account being shut down or compromised are low however by no means zero. Personally, it doesn’t harm me to have fallback choices if this does ever occur. It doesn’t harm that my mitigation measures take pleasure in letting me often uncover extra companies and apps I would want to Google’s personal.
Proceed: My worst tech resolution is a G Suite account for private use
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