Google Account
 | |
| Web address |
myaccount |
|---|---|
| Slogan | One account. All of Google. |
Type of site | Single sign-on |
| Owner | |
A Google Account is a user account that provides access to Google services such as Blogger, YouTube, and Google Groups. A Google Account is required for the use of Gmail, but account holders are not required to use Gmail and it is possible to create a Google Account without Gmail. Accounts in EU countries were hosted on the domain googlemail.com, instead of gmail.com because Google did not own the trademark.[1] Since resolving the domain dispute, user account use either gmail.com,[2] or may use another provider's address.
After a Google Account is created, users may enable other Google applications.[3]
YouTube and Blogger maintain separate accounts for users who registered with the services before their Google acquisition. However, effective April 2011 YouTube users are required to link to a separate Google Account if they wish to continue to log into that service.[4]
Google Account users may create a publicly accessible Google profile, to configure their presentation on Google products to other Google users. A Google profile can be linked to a user's profiles on various social-networking and image-hosting sites, as well as user blogs.
A Google Account can also be used by third party service providers. These providers can delegate user authentication to Google.[5]
Blocking accounts
Google may block an account for various reasons, such as "unusual activity"[6] or entering an age "not old enough" to own a Google account.[7] Reactivation is possible using web-forms, providing proof of identity through valid photo ID,[8] or a small credit card payment (at a cost of 0.30 USD). Other methods (such as sending a fax or uploading some requested document) require human interaction and may take some "days or a couple of weeks" to be accomplished.[9]
Security
While creating a Google account, users are asked to provide a recovery email address to allow them to reset their password if they have forgotten it, or if their account is hacked. In some countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and India, Google may also require one-time use of a mobile phone number to send an account validation code by SMS text messaging or voice message when creating a new account.[10][11]
Google also offers a 2-step verification option—for additional security against hacking—that requests a validation code each time the user logs into their Google account. The code is either generated by an application ("Google Authenticator") or received from Google as an SMS text message, a voice message, or an email to another account.[12][13] Trusted devices can be "marked" to skip this 2-step log-on authentication.[14] When this feature is switched on, software that cannot provide the validation code (e.g. IMAP and POP3 clients) must use a unique 16-character alphanumeric password generated by Google instead of the user's normal password.[15][16]
On June 5, 2012, a new security feature was introduced to protect users from state-sponsored attacks. Whenever Google analysis indicate that a government has attempted to compromise an account, a notice will be displayed that reads "Warning: We believe state-sponsored attackers may be trying to compromise your account or computer."[17][18]
Third party use
A provider of a web application which requires users to log in can delegate this work to Google. When a user tries to gain access to a secure resource on the third party website they are redirected to the Google Accounts login page. Here they will see an explanation of why they need to log in with their Google credentials. Any data which is to be shared with the third party will also be listed on this screen. Once authentication has succeeded the user is redirected back to the referring site along with a token identifying them as having logged in via Google.
Available Google applications
See also
References
- ↑ Libbenga, Jan (January 31, 2007). "Google loses European GMail trademark battle". The Register.
- ↑ Google's answer on googlemail vs gmail for EU. Retrieved on 2010-07-14
- ↑ "Even More Google Products". Google. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ "Why Connecting your YouTube and Google Accounts Matters". YouTube Blog. March 24, 2011. Retrieved on 2011-08-05
- ↑ "About the Sign in Request Page". Retrieved 2015-07-01.
- ↑ "Gmail Help Section".
- ↑ "Google account help page".
- ↑ "Google accounts help page".
- ↑ "Google account help page".
- ↑ "Gmail sign up procedure". LatestCrunch.in. 2012. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
- ↑ Google (2009). "I don't have a mobile phone, can I sign up?". Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "2-step verification : How it works". Google. 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
- ↑ Fallows, James. "Hacked". Atlantic Monthly. Archived from the original on 26 December 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
As email, documents, and almost every aspect of our professional and personal lives moves onto the “cloud”—remote servers we rely on to store, guard, and make available all of our data whenever and from wherever we want them, all the time and into eternity—a brush with disaster reminds the author and his wife just how vulnerable those data can be. A trip to the inner fortress of Gmail, where Google developers recovered six years’ worth of hacked and deleted e‑mail, provides specific advice on protecting and backing up data now—and gives a picture both consoling and unsettling of the vulnerabilities we can all expect to face in the future.
- ↑ "More on 2-step verification". Google. 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-17.
- ↑ "Please Turn On Two-Factor Authentication". LifeHacker. Aug 8, 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ↑ "9 Google Apps Security Secrets For Business". informationweek.com. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ↑ "Google Online Security Blog". Official Gmail Blog. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
- ↑ CBC News (6 June 2012). "Google to warn users of 'state-sponsored attacks'". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
