Banning the entire account rather than AI access is wildly user hostile. People have years of emails and calendars on their accounts.

And then you get to fight the support bots and eventually go to the actual unofficial Google support - asking hn whether anyone knows someone with a pulse at Google.

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bingbong4748 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

My mom’s Gmail account got banned for no reason whatsoever last week. Since then they removed her recovery number and 2FA as they ‘looked suspicious’.

Access to nearly 20 years of emails, photos and docs gone in an instant.

It’s been particularly painful because she used Google to log in to everything too, including for health records that she needs.

There is no way of contacting anyone at Google about it and apparently nothing that can be done anyway. It’s absolutely devastating. They’re still charging her for Google One and she can’t even manage the subscription because she can’t log in.

I urge anyone reading this to do a Google Takeout request and make a local backup of all the data they hold.

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mhitza an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I hope this page can provide some guidance in the appeal process https://transparency.google/intl/en-GB_in/tools-programs/rep...

If not directly through what is offered there, under the DSA (eu citizens and residents) have further ways to appeal their decision, and also Google takeout should be a last option even for banned accounts.

If you have any luck post a followup on HN to guide other users having a similar issue.

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bingbong4748 32 minutes ago | parent [-]

I had a look at the link and became hopeful when I clicked on “Appeal a disabled account”, but then the page loaded and said this -

“”” Ask us to restore your account

If you own the account, you can request access to it again.

- Sign in to your Google Account on a browser, like Chrome. - Select Start Appeal. - Follow the instructions. “””

C’mon Google, if I could do step 1 then I wouldn’t be on this page.

I will absolutely post a guide if we can figure out a way out of this mess.

Appreciate you trying to help. I’ll do a bit more digging on that page and see if I can find anything.

	▲	mhitza 23 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		You might want to try to follow on that, maybe they do have a separate if in their codebase if you're logging in for the appeal. Otherwise the DSA approach, with whatever that may entail process wise.

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rsync an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

“… There is no way of contacting anyone at Google about it …”

Of course there is: you pay your lawyer to send correspondence by registered mail.

Then you have them send followup correspondence a week or so later.

You will absolutely get a response.

	▲	fishpen0 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Everyone everywhere has the money and time to keep a lawyer on retainer. This is super equitable and a reasonable way to run society

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exe34 an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

I have an auto "checkout" every month and I download my data. I don't know if it's readable, I haven't checked, but it feels comforting. My email is also just a private name@domain that forwards to my Gmail. If I ever need to switch, it would be a simple update with my registrar.

(I'm aware domains can be stolen too, but I expect to have some leverage as I'm paying for that in the UK.)

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surajrmal 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This feels like the sort of thing that needs to be legislated. Banning accounts after breaking ToS is a pretty common behavior across many companies. The fact a Google account ends up being used for multiple products makes it more interesting but the overall problem here is not unique to them.

	▲	account42 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, in general, scale needs to come with more responsibilities, including a requirement to provide due process, not less like it currently does.

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somehnguy 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I haven't touched Google's AI suite due to this. I need to migrate my email away from Google - the stakes are too high.

Luckily I use a custom domain so accounts won't need to be updated, just emails exported and DNS changed.

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colkassad 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Good argument for breaking up the company.

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wat10000 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Big companies are all becoming user hostile these days. They act like the customer is an inconvenience rather than a fundamental part of their business. Every interaction exudes this feeling that your primary role is to serve as an unwanted impediment to money flowing out of your bank account and into theirs.

	▲	mcepl 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		And we are not in The Crash yet! Imagine how will they behave when they become desperate!