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Gmail Accidentally Resets 150,000 Accounts

Posted by samzenpus on from the did-you-need-that-mail? dept.

tsj5j writes "Many users have reported loss of their Gmail accounts, as they signed in to find their email accounts reset — losing years of email history. This appears to be a result of a bug which treats existing owners as new users. For those affected, Google is currently trying to resolve the problem. For the rest of us, perhaps this is a timely reminder to backup our data and be less trusting of the cloud."

16 of 401 comments (clear)

  1. IMAP by jdb2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is *exactly* why I have my Gmail account linked to Thunderbird via IMAP and I perform regular backups.

    jdb2

  2. I think I'd be okay if my inbox got erased.. by intellitech · · Score: 4, Funny

    At least, I wouldn't then have to clean it.

    --
    vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
  3. What idiot trusts the cloud? by dtmos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I mean, even its name is vaporous.

    1. Re:What idiot trusts the cloud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly. "Oh, I think I'll put all my important information completely under someone else's control. That way, when it's lost, I can just point the finger at the cloud instead of taking responsibility for my own data."

    2. Re:What idiot trusts the cloud? by delinear · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, given the technical ability of the average person, that's probably not a bad thing. This way they have at least some chance of someone technically competent at Google solving the issue for them. If they'd stored it locally and wiped it they'd probably be kissing goodbye to it instead of having a reasonable chance of recovering it. For most people's lolcat and pyramid mails that's a good enough solution - obviously if you're relying on it for storing your company accounts then that's another matter.

    3. Re:What idiot trusts the cloud? by nexttech · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because its safer then my hard drive.

      It would be interesting to see how many users had their hard drive crash and lost everything yesterday.

    4. Re:What idiot trusts the cloud? by LordLimecat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It comes down to who you trust more. I have several clients who are looking at email solutions; two options are "host it inhouse with exchange and backup to tape / backupexec", or "Google Docs, and let a dedicated team handle it".

      At the end of the day, they arent going to want to pay for my time to monitor backups, or perform restore testing, or rotate tapes daily. So do i trust that non-technical users will remember to rotate daily (I have several who forget, not realizing its importance despite reminders), or do I trust that Google will overall have less downtime and fewer disasters than a server with no physical monitoring or weekly maintenance?

      I will note that gMail's track record is pretty darn good since its inception; I only remember seeing 2-3 other stories like this in that time, with % affected being very low in a few cases, and I do not ever remember seeing a permenant data-loss scenario. Contrast to the real world, where I go to do a restore for said clients, and it turns out they havent rotated tapes in ages, or the tape drive has needed cleaning for years, or their online backup that they picked out (sans my advice) doesnt actually capture exchange or system state... etc.

      So sure, make claims that "the cloud" is untrustworthy... but there are scores of companies that rely on consultants for server setup and then never have an IT person set foot in the "server room" for several years thereafter-- and thats PRECISELY the market that "the cloud" is perfect for. You offload IT work from non-skilled folks to skilled folks, with the downside of relying on connectivity (though gmail has offline mode...).

  4. Only I value my data enough to protect it properly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is only one person in the world who values my data enough to protect it properly, and that person is me.

  5. Seems like a good place to suggest backup solution by Mascot · · Score: 5, Informative

    A stand-alone application seems the safest way to go. Personally, I use MailStore (free home edition) to ensure a local backup of my Gmail mails.

    I suspect offline access via Gears wouldn't help much in this case. It's supposed to stay in sync so I guess logging into an empty account would sync the local gears data into oblivion as well. The same would presumably be true of a local IMAP client (though that could at least be recovered from a backup and then opened in offline mode).

  6. I haven't paid anything for this but by carou · · Score: 4, Funny

    I demand my money back!

  7. Gmail-Backup by dHeinemann · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is exactly why it's important to keep backups. Gmail Backup is a pretty straightforward way to back up your Gmail account. You can also use it to upload emails from one account into another.

  8. Re:Only I value my data enough to protect it prope by camperdave · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is only one person in the world who values my data enough to protect it properly, and that person is me.

    ...And I don't eve trust that person to do it properly.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  9. Re:Only I value my data enough to protect it prope by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...And I don't eve trust that person to do it properly.

    After all, a simple typo can completely screw up the meaning of an automated backup script!

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  10. Not so much of a story, really by RivenAleem · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Google has already stated they have a resolution, but it may take a little time to implement. They have backups, and will restore the accounts. This seems like a case of:

    Something went wrong, they're fixing it.

    The End.

    1. Re:Not so much of a story, really by Daley_G · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is all true, but would there be as much traffic on this article had the headline read something like "Gmail Accidentally Resets .004% of the Total Number of Accounts, and they'll have it fixed soon" ? Media generates hype. Hype generates income.

  11. How many people really know how to do backups? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The idea that everyone should personally handle backing up their email is insanity. If you're a professional at this stuff, then fine, do it at home as well. But for nearly everyone in the population, gmail is going to be vastly more reliable than any backup scheme they come up with at home.

    For the average smtp/pop user, email works like this:
    1. Grab all the new messages off the server.
    2. Read a few, respond to fewer.
    3. Leave all of them on the PC's non-backed-up hard drive forever.
    4. Eventually buy a new computer, losing all previous messages.
    5. Discard the old computer with all the old mail sitting wide open on the HD, along with Quicken, etc., for any attacker who happens upon it.

    Gmail is a _vast_ improvement in security and reliability over what non-technical people wind up doing with smtp-based mail.