Take the Free Google Security Checkup

Thanks for the heads up. I found a couple of webmaster tools permissions I needed to remove for vendors I gave permission to years ago.

Hi Bob. I followed the above steps. It's a good idea to do in any case but I had hoped that I would get 2 more GB and that doesn't seem to have happened. Did I do something wrong?

EDITOR'S NOTE:Forgot to mention, your extra storage will be added by the end of February, at which time Google will email you to confirm.

I followed your link to the security checkup and the second step took me to the account settings with no visible way to navigate to the third step?? What am I missing?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Did you click the "Looks good" button?

I am doing the check, but I did not get any acknowledgement or message telling me I am getting 2 GB more. Do I HAVE to give them a cell phone? I don't want to. Thanks.

EDITOR'S NOTE: your extra storage will be added by the end of February, at which time Google will email you to confirm.

You do not have to provide your cell phone number. It can be used to recover your account in the event that it is ever compromised, but it's completely optional.

The only problem with this google wants you screw with my gmail passwords, which I access from a lot of different places.

And now when I login, I get the message "We strongly recommend that you add at least one backup phone. We suggest that you print or download backup codes, especially if you travel or have problems receiving codes on your phone".

Why would I have two phones and incur two phone charges? And how do I print the backup codes? There is no option to this. It messed up my e-mail on my phone. I wished I had not done this.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You don't need two phones. Only add a backup phone to increase your ability to recover from a compromised hack. Again, Google doesn't want or need your cell phone number. HOWEVER, if YOU want to provide it to them, it can be used to recover your account in the event that it is ever compromised.

Here's how to print the codes: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1187538?hl=en

Got to account settings and no button to continue or save or end. Click Looks Good and it starts over. It loops.

Apparently this does not apply to desktop computers, but only to the "modern hardware," such as I-phones and such. Is that correct? (I am abysmally ignorant of almost anything digital. I can barely handle my cell phone!)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Not correct. You should follow these best practices (especially 2-factor authentication) on your desktop.

Google wants to ensure that have exclusive access to your private info to sell to advertisers. I've heard they're even asking members for their cell phone numbers. If you want more security, don't have any Google account. I use DuckDuckGo and Ixquick as search engines, and the only Google site I use is Youtube, with an anonymous email account at Guerrilla Mail. And I am not a Luddite, in fact I do some computer repair in addition to my day job.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Amazing how these rumors spread... Google doesn't want your cell phone number. HOWEVER, if YOU want to provide it to them, it can be used to recover your account in the event that it is ever compromised.

Get 1Tb free, no! Google is a search engine wanting my data for free, NO! Has google got a SDL, no! is two factor authentication safe, no! Are apps safe, no! Remove everything google and all apps, use a business not a consumer grade product, YES!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Wow. I don't even know what you mean by SDL... Can you provide something to backup your assertion that two factor authentication is not safe?

Bob--There are other ways to recover an account. Google's history in regard to their members' privacy is abominable.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Okay... can you provide some sort of documentation showing how Google has abused their members' privacy? A link or two from an authoritative source?

According to the Google security help document https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/183723?hl=en "We no longer support security questions as a way to access your account."

EDITOR'S NOTE: That's a good thing, right? And it's why I recommend 2-factor auth, which is quite a different thing.

Thanks for the info on doing this checkup.

There doesn't seem to be a place to mark when you're finished at Step 5 (like the 'Done' or 'Looks good' is the earlier steps); so how does one go about that?

Sorry, Bob. Most all the time I agree with your stands and opinions. On letting Google take care of my cloud backups, can't do. Not for the reason you may think. If the government decides they want to see my information, Google would have no choice but to let them - with a search warrant. The fact I have nothing to hide is irrelevant. I'll do my backups on a removable hard drive and store that in a safe place, thank you very much.

My wife and I set up ours without issue. It’s not difficult, but there are a lot of tedious steps (including making sure everything is working afterward). Been wanting to get it done for some time now, as we've both got a fair amount of Google-related stuff.

We decided to use the Google Authenticator on our iPad Minis as our primary codes-source. It might be a good choice too for those who have mentioned that they don't want to give out their mobile phone numbers. (We don't care much about that, as ours are both Google numbers anyway.) We mainly like the Authenticator because unlike a phone number, it does not require internet or data network access, to generate access codes. (The code that appears, is only good for a short time, before being replaced by another one.)

Also, to insure that people don’t get permanently locked out of anything, the Google site allows you to generate a set of single-use emergency codes, which they (surprisingly) say you should write down and put in a secure place. HA! Sorta defeats the whole purpose of any code, don’t ya’ think? We put ours into our encrypted password-manager file, which is backed up on our computers and tablets. Those secure backups have become critical, now that we have been changing many of our site passwords to 20-character, nonsense ones and we don't even know what they are anymore. It’s really a shame that we have to take all of these time-wasting steps to try to stay ahead of crooks.

You gotta love this. Yahoo started months ago with me. Change your password, change your password. Well the first week I changed it. Every time I had to log in for 3/4 months. No auto login. Change your password. Tried changing to something similar. Rejected. Switched a couple numbers. Accepted.
Google? Someone tried to access your account. 3 different notifications in the last 2 months. Check your logins to determine if there are any bogus entries.
Only problem is I was logging on a new phone and tablet. Messed up logging on the phone. Tablet doesn't have GPS. Google's logs showed local access from which I couldn't determine if someone else tried to hack my account or not. Google no longer allows auto login here. GGAAAAHHH! Smash the bug!

The best way to not get spied on? Don't use goggle!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Or Google? I think it's interesting that some people believe Google is "spying" on them. This implies some sort of secret and nefarious activity that identifies you on a personal level. What do you imagine might be happening, other than the activities publicly outlined in the Google privacy policy?

And why do you think the problem would be solved by not using Google services? We know for SURE that the NSA is poking into voice, text and web traffic. Will you also be giving up your landline, cell phone and Internet service?