
Tell HN: Your old Yahoo Mail emails are probably gone - mayank
If you haven&#x27;t logged in to your Yahoo Mail account in the last 12 months, logging in now will create a &quot;fresh&quot; account for you, that is completely empty. I just lost 22 years of emails.
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lightwin
I want to name and shame Verizon (as they own Yahoo) for this shitty policy.

I lost 15 years of memories and documents. I didn't login to YahooMail for a
year, and it was all gone when I tried to login after that. Everything was
gone without a single warning to my secondary email or linked mobile number.

I understand they simply wanted to get rid of all free users asap. Someone at
Verizon management came up with this stupid idea of deleting all inactive
accounts. What a way to ruin a brand.

Not sure if it's related but they also have a Customer Data Security Breach
Litigation Settlement ongoing. If you had a Yahoo account at any time between
January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2016 and are a resident of the United States
or Israel, you may submit a claim for a cash payment up to __$358.80 __, and
You may additionally provide documentation or proof to receive reimbursement
of up to __$25,000.00 __in out-of-pocket losses. [1]

[1]
[https://yahoodatabreachsettlement.com/](https://yahoodatabreachsettlement.com/)

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oftenwrong
Where can find out more about this decision? Are paid email accounts safe for
now?

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lightwin
Here: [https://help.yahoo.com/kb/empty-mailbox-yahoo-mail-
sln29338....](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/empty-mailbox-yahoo-mail-
sln29338.html)

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diablo1
You can also re-register an account that was deleted by someone else. Major
hole in Yahoo's systems. Enables identity theft and other shenanigans

~~~
jpxw
This is a _massive_ security flaw if true.

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Spivak
Not for the email provider. If the only authoritative identity for an account
is “can receive an email at a given address” you’re just admitting that you’re
outsourcing your security to an implementation detail of a few large email
providers that you have no control over and a bunch of small email providers
that you have no guarantee behave the same way.

A trivial example is Mailinator.

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icedchai
I think it's _on you_ to back up your emails. I archive my gmail account
locally and also have an offsite backup.

~~~
j45
True, but the cloud is sold as convenience, and backups and magic.

The reality is the cloud is putting your data in someone else's computer. Your
data is technically without a permanent home.

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pascalxus
One day, about 5 years ago or so, I tried to login to my yahoo account that
was still active at the time and I couldn't even login. They just said my
account no longer exists! WTF! the account I had been using for over 10 years
simply ceased to exist from one day to another. After that, I vowed to never
use another yahoo product again.

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saluki
RIP Yahoo Mail!

It would be nice to have that history, but easy come easy go.

Excited to see what Basecamp/37 signals does with Hey.com.

~~~
lightwin
RIP Yahoo and Verizon

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mattbgates
My emails are all gone but Yahoo doesn't even seem to be working. I can't send
or receive email. A search yields no help at all, save for a support team who
seems too relaxed about it.

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j45
That sucks. Reminds me of when Microsoft deleted over 15y of Hotmail emails.

Free-ish cloud.. while useful, can't be fully relied on because ultimately,
the cloud is someone else's computer.

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Jugurtha
The last time I used my Yahoo account was about fourteen years ago and the
only reason I was using it back then was because of a girl who was using it. I
nudged her to switch to Messenger (msn).

I think many people in academia still use their Yahoo account.

Interested to hear others' thoughts...

Do you you, or people you know, still use Yahoo? Why or why not?

