Gmail 2FA causes the homeless to permanently lose access 3 times a year

Re:Gmail 2FA causes the homeless to permanently lose access ... by Kalium on Friday October 07, 2022 @08:27PM (#33128634)

This feels ever-increasingly like asking Google to cover the role of a government agency. Universal service is something we expect of government agencies. It's rarely something we expect of private enterprise.

The whole "community recovery" concept sets my teeth on edge. It's a whole alternative authentication avenue ripe for exploitation. Anything that positive and innocuous sounding is going to be the target of many an abuse campaign - think Cambridge Analytica and all the people who handed over their info to innocuous-looking things. Telling people all their info has been stolen isn't all that helpful for protecting them and knowing the specific library or shelter that authorized it will do very little to help.

Plus it turns the people designated as recovery agents into high-value targets.

Again, I'm not trying to avoid finding a solution. I'm trying to avoid finding a "solution" that puts a large number of people at risk unnecessarily.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Gmail 2FA causes the homeless to permanently lose access ... by angry_octet on Sunday October 09, 2022 @05:14AM (#33139309)

You could easily limit this program to people using Lifeline phones, or enrolled with a geolocated homeless support organisation. The vouching agents can't be high value targets if they're protecting the identity of impoverished people.

[ Parent | on HN ]