Why I’m not keeping all my digital eggs in the Google basket

Google has constructed a ton of companies, all of them accessible through one account. In actual fact, with just a few exceptions right here and there (YouTube, Google Search, Google Maps), you may’t truly use many of the firm’s main companies with out creating an account within the first place.

For sure, it’s very handy to have all these companies underneath one roof. Nonetheless, I’ve by no means felt 100% snug with one Google account for all the pieces. Let me inform you why and what I do about it.

I’m positive it’s an irrational worry, however I’ve all the time had this latent concern about the potential of one thing occurring to my Google account. Whether or not it’s my account being hacked or Google shutting it down for no matter purpose, I spotted very early on that a large a part of my digital life would go lacking if my Google account was not accessible.

That may imply no extra Gmail inbox, Play Retailer purchases, YouTube profile, Google Chrome shopping knowledge, Drive recordsdata, YouTube Music, and Google Images backups. So I’d successfully have to start out my digital presence from scratch if I had been all in on the Mountain View behemoth’s companies.

These fears aren’t precisely unfounded although, as Google’s algorithm-based method to enforcement means errors aren’t unusual and folks do typically get their account banned for no purpose.

There are circumstances of Google taking a heavy-handed method to bans after they appear to be at fault, as one Redditor discovered again in 2018. The consumer had returned units to Google however the firm charged his account anyway. After they determined to dispute the transaction and difficulty a chargeback with their financial institution (after apparently contacting the corporate a number of occasions), Google slapped them with a ban.

We’ve additionally even seen just a few egregious examples of Google banning accounts that aren’t immediately related to terms-of-service violations. For instance, the corporate reportedly banned the private account of cell sport developer Ali Nadalizadeh in addition to the enterprise account related together with his cell sport 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 attraction 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’ whole Google accounts fairly than their YouTube profiles.

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 yr additionally bolstered my feeling that I ought to have extra options on faucet. My unique e mail account (through a long-running native South African service), which I’ve had for over 15 years, was inexplicably shut down late yr. I wasn’t the one one both, because it seems {that a} few other people reported that their accounts not existed.

Fortunately, I’d been steadily migrating away from this account over time, and it wasn’t a world e 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 unimaginable.

Google’s performed it earlier than: These failed Google merchandise might’ve been nice

Whereas I nonetheless use loads of Google companies, I’ve embraced options for so long as I’ve been utilizing smartphones. In any case, it’s vital to have viable challengers to Google because it creates competitors within the area 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 usually for my internet search wants on cell.

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 once I had a price range laptop computer and Google Chrome was arguably a fair larger RAM hog than it’s proper now. I nonetheless use Chrome on my telephone, however I’ve additionally been spending an increasing number of time with the superb Kiwi Browser owing to its Chrome extension assist.

It would sound like I ought to simply drop Google fully, however I’m not able to take the deGoogled route simply but. I’m blissful to make use of the corporate’s companies and I’m principally conscious of the trade-offs when it comes to privateness. It’s additionally simply extremely handy to have one account for all Google companies.

Except for merely utilizing various companies and due to this fact placing your digital eggs in additional baskets, there are just a few different measures you may take to maintain your Google account protected.

For starters, you may take wise precautions like utilizing two-factor authentication to your varied accounts. This offers your account an additional layer of safety, requiring dangerous actors to have your telephone so as to achieve entry to your Google account.

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 to log in to a lot of your different companies too. You’ll even be locked out of each non-Google service in case you misplaced entry to your Google account and couldn’t bear 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 e mail forwarding out of your Gmail inbox to a different e mail supplier. It’s also possible to be certain that you’ve separated your work and private knowledge as a lot as doable. This may be achieved through the use of completely different Google accounts for work and private use, then establishing private and work profiles in Chrome, so your shopping knowledge and credentials for work/dwelling are separated from one another. This could assist in an enormous manner if one account is compromised.

You must also contemplate repeatedly backing up your knowledge, both regionally or to different companies. For instance, you must again up your Google Images and Google Drive content material to a different cloud storage service or to an exterior exhausting drive. You would possibly wish to do the identical for YouTube and YouTube Music in case you’ve received content material on these companies. Utilizing Google Takeout might help you get a downloadable model of all of your knowledge.

Both manner, the probabilities of your Google account being shut down or compromised are low however by no means zero. Personally, it doesn’t damage me to have fallback choices if this does ever occur. It doesn’t damage that my mitigation measures benefit from letting me often uncover extra companies and apps I would choose to Google’s personal.

Proceed: My worst tech choice is a G Suite account for private use