I am trying my best to wipe as much of my data off the Internet as possible and be more secure going forward. I understand that to some extent, the Internet is forever, so it’s impossible to detach from it entirely. I’ve also certainly lost some accounts - some web site logins, some emails are simply long forgotten. So be it.
Currently, I’ve wiped my social media accounts, so the only thing left to handle is my email and a plethora of attached logins. I already know that my email is “compromised” in some sense (it has been reported as such to me, although I don’t know what this implies). I used a Google account (and GMail) in the past, and found it to be very convenient. I have an Android phone as well, so I’m fairly entrenched in Google’s ecosystem. I could consider moving off Google if there is sufficient reason to, but at this time I’m okay with having some of my identity and data known & public.
Currently my plan is to start a fresh Google account and set everything up from scratch. For things I wish to remain private, I will not be using the Google account. I’m simply trying to be more discerning in what I allow to be public, and make conscious decisions about it.
I’m new to this whole process, so I have a few questions, and would appreciate any pointers to help me on my security journey!
Are there any privacy risks to attaching the new Google account to the old ones? How can I best lock down a fresh Google account? What security concerns might using Google accounts have?
Moving out of the old Google account is overwhelming with the amount of services for which I’ve used it. Any suggestions for how to methodically make the move over? Is there a way to see where my old Google account is being used, including the GMail?
Just a note to check passwords.google.com if you’re abandoning an old Google account. You could have a lot of credentials stored there which would be better stored in a real password manager or somewhere else you’re actively securing.
I would clear out the data from your account over time to remove Google or anyone accessing it. Don’t stress this phase, it can be stressful coming to terms with how vulnerable we’ve made ourselves to tech corps. Take a deep breathe, it will all be fine.
I suggest to keep the gmail. That is an established account and is already out there and you might as well keep that identity alive but not attached to your new private life. Just assume your old gmail as your meatspace identity that will forever be associated with old photos scraped off your defunct facebook account.
Your new identity that ecompasses privacy version of you is entirely seperate from your physical self. I keep medical records brian seperate from meatspace brian, and also seperate from my other public alter ego “bits” used for open source activity versus personal life, among others.
I would not do it because I guess that this is likely that they associate the accounts to collect more data.
You may use SMSPool.net to create the Google account, if you are asked to give a phone number.
Just visit the privacy settings in your Google account.
Afaik there is no automated way to change the email registered in all your accounts (this process is a lot easier if you use a service like anonaddy, or if you have a personal domain).
You can track where your Gmail account was used to create accounts searching for “confirm” in your trash in Gmail, or “account” or “password”, and search in Google’s password manager.