One very convenient feature of Google allows a single log-in to third-party websites and apps with a single click. If you’re logged into google on your phone/app, there’s a good chance you can just click the “log in with Google” button and you’re in.
Of course, such convenience comes at a cost to your privacy.
So what happens when you try to switch away, when you try to either switch your account or create a new one from an e-mail address? Well, so far I’ve noticed three things:
- Indeed kept sending e-mail to my google account for months afterward.
- Patreon made the process of switching my account off of Google so convoluted, I opted to just nuke my account entirely.
- One retail site is giving me an error creating a new non-G account, probably because my device, a Samsung-owned tablet, is already “registered”, probably through some super invasive Google process hardware fingerprinting it and linking it to my account. I’m kicking it back to the website for the time being.
Yeah, the link is there on the vendor’s side, but it doesn’t get back to google, right? I mean, I guess unless they have sharing agreements, which they probably do. Shit. My brain still hasn’t adjusted to modern corporate perfidy.
As for that hardware ID, I’m kicking it back to the retailer and letting them know they’re going to lose a sale if they don’t address it. If I just disappear, they’re not going to know its a problem. But they’re also a good company otherwise–non-Amazon specialty stores are a treasure–so I’ll just do the work around (probably on a web browser with the new account) if they don’t fix it.
Any website giving even the mildest shit about security will send a verification email to your old email address when you set a new one. This email will usually specify your new email address.
If you’re really concerned about Google having nothing on you, use a transitional proton or masked email, then change it again so their info is inaccurate. I personally don’t care if Google knows my new email address; I’m satisfied just knowing they can’t read what’s sent to it anymore.