Say Goodbye To Google
If you have read the articles written on this website so far, you may be considering saying goodbye to Google, perhaps even to Microsoft and if you haven’t already, Facebook too. In any case, the convenience that these companies have offered you over the years, has left you with a complicated web of dependencies. It is so complicated, that you will not know just how complicated it is, until you try to close an account. Many people have done it successfully, before you, so I will outline what to do and how to avoid the traps.
Complicated Dependencies Revealed
Let’s start with a list of dependencies. NOTE: If you are reading this and have a Microsoft email address, e.g. outlook.com, etc. Then substitute this for Gmail and Microsoft for Google. The dependencies don’t change.
| Service | Dependency |
|---|---|
| Google Services (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, etc.) | Gmail email address |
| Gmail email address | |
| Website where you have “signed in with Google” | Gmail email, Google Single Sign On (SSO) |
| Website where you have “signed in with Facebook” | Gmail email, Facebook Single Sign On (SSO) |
| Website where you have created an account using your Gmail address | Gmail email |
| Bank, government, communications, utility website | Gmail email |
| Two Factor Authentication – 2FA (some websites) | Gmail email |
| Connection with friends, family, contacts | Gmail email |
As you can see, if you simply close your Google account, you will be cut off from everything. So we need a more structured migration plan.
Migration Plan
The following steps needs to be done in order. If they don’t apply to you then skip over the ones that don’t apply.
- DO NOT CLOSE YOUR GMAIL ACCOUNT
- Create a new email account with an independent email service provider. I would recommend protonmail. If protonmail does not suit, then pick another one that you trust that they can properly manage your email and are not tied or linked into any other service that you require.
- Use only your new email address for all correspondence. Start early and get in the practice. Do not use your Gmail account for sending email, unless you absolutely must in order to verify your details. This Gmail account should stay passively operational but never be used for creating new accounts or signing up to new services. Furthermore, never use the OAuth providers such Google, Facebook or Microsoft to create new accounts. You know the ones. “Single Step Signon with…”. The method is secure, but comes with it, a dependency that you are trying to remove in this whole exercise.
- Notify all of your connections, ie. friends, family, business contacts, utilities, etc. of your new email address and wait and confirm that each of them has responded with an acknowledgement on your new email account.
- If a shop or website that you have an account with, does not let you change your email address, then close the account and then immediately create a new account with them, using your new email address. If you have credit with the store or company, you need to manage this before you close the account. If you need to download receipts, then do this before you close the account.
- There are some telcos and government departments that will not let you change your email address. This is typically seen as read-only attribute on your profile, when you try to update your profile. You will either have to organise a face-to-face presentation (banks usually require this) or arrange for the email address to changed by phone. Wait for the changes to appear in your online profile for that service, before you consider this step as complete.
- If you have ever set up “Sign On using Google” on a website, then have to deal with the fact that by definition, you have a restricted account with the supplier. That supplier has some of your details but not enough to run without the OAuth provider (Google in this case). In those cases, you will most likely have to close your account with that supplier and create a new account with your new email address as authentication.
- Once you have completed all of the steps so far, we have a transition period where we have catch the services that you forgot about. This can be easily achieved by logging into your Gmail account and set the “forward all” emails to you new email address.
- Wait for at least 2 weeks. You should occasionally log into your Gmail account to make sure that they are all being forwarded to your new email address.
- Once you are convinced that everybody who is important in your online life has your new email and uses it in their communications with you, you are free to consider closing your Gmail account and all their services, once you have explored some of the alternatives.
Single Sign On (SSO) – Why You Should Avoid It
The process of SSO was devised as a way to help users with the creation of accounts with good quality hard-to-crack passwords, by giving the password management responsibilities to a third-party such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and others. While the system does provide high security, it does add an extra level of complexity, in that once you “connect” the new website account to the SSO provider, they need to be linked forever, to work properly. The second even more serious consideration is that if the SSO provider is compromised (data breach), then the person with your data can create accounts, as if they were you, wherever they wish, worldwide.
Neither are good options in 2023. It is better to spend the extra few minutes of your time, setting up a real password, with a real email address, and using a password manager to look after the quality and management of the new “password”.