Ask HN: How do I eliminate Gmail as a single point of failure

3 points by taauji 3 years ago | 4 comments

There are many instances on the internet where google has shutdown accounts of people who had not done anything illegal. They were falsely flagged by Google's AI moreover Google did not provide any human support to resolve the situation.

After reading about so many cases like these, it is safe to assume that trusting google with your data is not a good idea.

If I lose access to my GMail today I would lose access to many important services in my life such as my insurance, utility bills, investments etc. Hence, I am looking to move away from Gmail.

For those who have successfully transitioned, would you have any advice?

I know about - Proton mail - Fast mail but I feel anxious in trusting these services because - I do not know much about their privacy practices. (I heard Proton Mail diluted their privacy garuntees last year due to some legal requirements?) - I am afraid that these companies might shutdown as well one day leaving me in a limbo with my data that might not be migratable.

Self hosting is not an option for me and I assume most of us. Would the HN community be of any help?

akerl_ 3 years ago |

You don't really have to "self-host" (and in fact, I think self-hosting is a recipe for pain and suffering). What I've done personally is:

1. Buy your own domain (ideally not via Google Domains; I use Amazon, but there's plenty of solid registrars).

2. Set up a Google Apps account (I think I pay something in the neighborhood of $5-10/mo, which seems not crazy given how email is the linchpin of every other service)

3. Configure DNS for your domain to point to Google Apps.

4. Pick a backup tool and back up your Google Apps to somewhere. I've got a Synology NAS, so I use its built in tool to back up Gmail/Drive/etc, but there's any number of tools depending on where you want to store the data / how you want to handle retention / etc.

Now, if Google closes your account, you have backups of your data, and you pick a new mail provider and update your DNS records.

WheelsAtLarge 3 years ago |

Use Mailstore and download it all to a local drive. Make sure you have local backups and you run Mailstore regularly.

https://www.mailstore.com/en/products/mailstore-home/

It works surprisingly well.

To guard your email address, setup your own domain, create an email address and connect it to gmail.

https://themeisle.com/blog/use-gmail-with-your-own-domain-na...

It's smart to do it. Google can close your account at any minute. It belongs to them.

legrande 3 years ago |

> Self hosting is not an option for me

I've had great success with Migadu[0] and I have several custom domains hooked up. If Migadu shuts down, I still have the custom domain and I just respawn a new server.

[0] https://www.migadu.com/

helph67 3 years ago |

I have used Fastmail for many years and recommend them for the quality of their service. I'm in no way connected with them, merely a satisfied client.