Best way to ensure that I am not locked out of my Gmail account?

[Elarion]

Just had a family member break their phone by dropping it. There's no way for them to get to sign into their Gmail account now because it demands that that phone be the one that is used to verify identity.

 

This got me thinking about protecting Gmail accounts. Is there any way to protect them from a loss like this other than having multiple Android phones to confirm your identity for sign in? This is going to be a several hundred hour long project now just to get everything functioning again with a new email address, assuming Google can't verify her identity.

[aisle9]

Google straight-up harasses me for a backup email address almost every time I log in.

[SImoHayha]

58 minutes ago, Elarion said:

Just had a family member break their phone by dropping it. There's no way for them to get to sign into their Gmail account now because it demands that that phone be the one that is used to verify identity.

 

This got me thinking about protecting Gmail accounts. Is there any way to protect them from a loss like this other than having multiple Android phones to confirm your identity for sign in? This is going to be a several hundred hour long project now just to get everything functioning again with a new email address, assuming Google can't verify her identity.

You can use backup codes, or simply use another phone? can't you just use another phone with her sim in it? Backup Email address which should've been used. Also 2 factor with phone number? where it sends you a txt and you well use it to get a code and get it done?

[BiotechBen]

Literally have a second phone that it's entire purpose now is a backup in case something happens and is a trusted device.

[JosephKnowsNot]

40 minutes ago, BiotechBen said:

Literally have a second phone that it's entire purpose now is a backup in case something happens and is a trusted device.

Even if you keep a backup phone, can you remove the broken phone as a trusted device, or is it there forever?

 

I realize there is a need for security, but preventing the user from keeping their account up to date is not security.

 

Locking the account to a particular device is never a good idea, IMHO. Corporations like it because it makes it easier to verify users, but it isn't necessarily a good security practice for the user, and in some cases actually makes the user more susceptible to malware (because the device is assumed to be trustworthy). 

[BiotechBen]

1 minute ago, JosephKnowsNot said:

Even if you keep a backup phone, can you remove the broken phone as a trusted device, or is it there forever?

 

I realize there is a need for security, but preventing the user from keeping their account up to date is not security.

 

Locking the account to a particular device is never a good idea, IMHO. Corporations like it because it makes it easier to verify users, but it isn't necessarily a good security practice for the user, and in some cases actually makes the user more susceptible to malware (because the device is assumed to be trustworthy). 

I actually did just that a few weeks ago, cleaned up the trusted devices removing my old J7 (2017) and G7+ (2019) without even having to have them handy. Current trusted devices are my current S22+, my two laptops, my desktop, and the old G100. It's actually SUPER easy to remove devices as trusted devices.

[TetraSky]

You can remove trusted devices if you can log into the account on a computer.

You can recover an account through various means as well, even if 2fa is enabled.

I would suggest getting the backup codes at the very least. I store mine in a Keepass database. But you can use Bitwarden or the likes. All you need to do, is remember that one password and possibly share it across multiple devices. You could put that keepass database on a CD or usb drive someone and just... forget about it until the day you need it if your codes never change.

[LAwLz]

Google gives you a bunch of ways to recover your account.

You can have backup codes.

You can attach a secondary email to your account.

You can have it send a verification prompt to multiple trusted devices.

You can have it SMS you.

 

It should be pretty difficult to get locked out if you just follow Google's advice they periodically send out.