Examine individual changes

'{{Short description|User account required for Google-owned services}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Use American English|date=May 2021}} {{Infobox website |name = Google Account |logo = Google account icon.svg |logo_size = 86px |screenshot = |caption2 = |type = [[Single sign-on]] |owner = [[Google]] |url = {{URL|https://myaccount.google.com/}} }} A '''Google Account''' is a [[user account]] that is required for access, authentication and authorization to certain online [[Google]] services. It is also often used as [[single sign on]] for third party services. ==Usage== A Google Account is required for [[Gmail]], [[Google Hangouts]], [[Google Meet]] and [[Blogger (service)|Blogger]]. Some [[List of Google products|Google products]] do not require an account, including [[Google Search]], [[YouTube]], [[Google Books]], [[Google Finance]] and [[Google Maps]]. However, an account is needed for uploading videos to YouTube and for making edits in Google Maps. After a Google Account is created, the owner may selectively enable or disable various Google applications.<ref>{{cite web |title=Even More Google Products |url=http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/ |access-date=July 9, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130706051542/http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/|archive-date=July 6, 2013|url-status=live }}</ref> [[YouTube]] and [[Blogger (service)|Blogger]] maintain separate accounts for users who registered with the services before the 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-connecting-your-youtube-and-google.html |title=Why Connecting your YouTube and Google Accounts Matters |publisher=YouTube Blog |date=March 24, 2011 |access-date=August 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805115753/http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-connecting-your-youtube-and-google.html |archive-date=August 5, 2011 |url-status=live }} Retrieved on August 5, 2011</ref> 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 service|image-hosting]] sites, as well as user [[blog]]s. Third-party service providers may implement service authentication for Google Account holders via the Google Account mechanism.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/112802?hl=en |title=About the Sign in Request Page |access-date=July 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713110232/https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/112802?hl=en |archive-date=July 13, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> ==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]] [[telephone number|number]] to send an account validation code by SMS [[text messaging]] or voice message when creating a new account.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.latestcrunch.in/gmail-signup-step-by-step-procedure/ |title=Gmail sign up procedure |access-date=July 17, 2012 |publisher=LatestCrunch.in |year=2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716115802/http://www.latestcrunch.in/gmail-signup-step-by-step-procedure/ |archive-date=July 16, 2012}}</ref><ref name="SMSacct">{{cite web |url=http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=114129 |title=I don't have a mobile phone, can I sign up? |access-date=July 8, 2009 |last=Google |author-link=Google |year=2009}}</ref> Google also offers a [[two-step verification|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 other similar apps) or received from Google as an SMS text message, a voice message, or an email to another account.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://support.google.com/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=180744 |title=2-step verification : How it works |access-date=July 17, 2012 |year=2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120715205932/https://support.google.com/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=180744 | archive-date = July 15, 2012 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Fallows |first=James |title=Hacked |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/11/hacked/8673/?single_page=true |publisher=Atlantic Monthly |access-date=December 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/64EGXxTPF?url=http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/11/hacked/8673/?single_page=true |archive-date=December 26, 2011 |quote=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. |url-status=dead }}</ref> Trusted devices can be "marked" to skip this 2-step log-on authentication.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://support.google.com/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1610214 |title=More on 2-step verification |access-date=July 17, 2012 |year=2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120525012736/https://support.google.com/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1610214 | archive-date = May 25, 2012 | url-status = live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Please Turn On Two-Factor Authentication">{{cite news |title=Please Turn On Two-Factor Authentication |url=http://lifehacker.com/5932700/please-turn-on-two+factor-authentication |access-date=August 14, 2012 |newspaper=LifeHacker |date=August 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120811010224/http://lifehacker.com/5932700/please-turn-on-two+factor-authentication|archive-date=August 11, 2012|url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="9 Google Apps Security Secrets For Business">{{cite web |title=9 Google Apps Security Secrets For Business |date=August 14, 2012 |url=http://www.informationweek.com/security/attacks/9-google-apps-security-secrets-for-busin/240005410 |publisher=informationweek.com |access-date=August 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815215526/http://www.informationweek.com/security/attacks/9-google-apps-security-secrets-for-busin/240005410|archive-date=August 15, 2012|url-status=live }}</ref> Users who seek an even higher level of security protection, including users whose accounts could be attractive targets for hackers, such as celebrities, politicians, journalists, political activists and wealthy individuals, can opt-in to Google's Advanced Protection Program. This program requires the user to purchase two [[Universal 2nd Factor|U2F]] USB keys&nbsp;— not for data storage, but for identity verification. The U2F keys are used to provide two-step verification during login. One is for backup purposes, in case the first is lost. The Advanced Protection Program includes further security measures to protect the user's account, such as restrictions on which applications the user can grant access to their account, and a more thorough identity verification process for regaining access to the account if the password is forgotten.<ref name='eff-advanced-protection'>{{cite web |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/01/googles-advanced-protection-program-offers-security-options-high-risk-users |title=Google's Advanced Protection Program Offers Security Options For High-Risk Users |last=Gebhart |first=Gennie |publisher=[[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] |date=January 22, 2018|access-date=July 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710135601/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/01/googles-advanced-protection-program-offers-security-options-high-risk-users|archive-date=July 10, 2018|url-status=live }}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Online Security Blog |url=http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.in/2012/06/security-warnings-for-suspected-state.html |publisher=Official Gmail Blog |access-date=June 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609014158/http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.in/2012/06/security-warnings-for-suspected-state.html|archive-date=June 9, 2012|url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CBC06Jun12">{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/06/06/tech-google-warning-state-hacking.html |title=Google to warn users of 'state-sponsored attacks' |access-date=June 6, 2012 |last=CBC News |author-link=CBC News |date=June 6, 2012 |work=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120606225342/http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/06/06/tech-google-warning-state-hacking.html|archive-date = June 6, 2012|url-status = live }}</ref> ==Account blocking== Google may block an account for various reasons, such as "unusual activity"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=46346 |title=Gmail Help Section}}</ref> or entering an age "not old enough" to own a Google account.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1333913 |title=Google account help page}}</ref> Reactivation is possible using web-forms, providing proof of identity through valid photo ID,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1333913 |title=Google accounts help page}}</ref> or a credit card payment of US$0.30. Other methods (such as sending a [[fax]] or uploading some requested document) may require human interaction and may take some "days or a couple of weeks" to be accomplished.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1333913 |title=Google account help page|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130115231443/http://support.google.com/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1333913|archive-date= 15 January 2013|url-status= dead}}</ref> ==Activity tracking== The tool called 'My Activity' launched in 2016 - which supersedes Google Search history and Google Web History&nbsp;— enables users to see and delete data tracked by Google through the Google account. The tool shows which websites were visited using Chrome while logged in, devices used, apps used, Google products interacted with, etc. All information is laid out in a timeline-like layout. Users can choose to entirely disable tracking, or remove certain activities which they don't want to be tracked.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Eric Ravenscraft |title=Google's New My Activity Page Lets You See and Delete All of Your Google Activity |url=http://lifehacker.com/googles-new-my-activity-page-lets-you-see-and-delete-al-1782805053 |date=June 29, 2016|access-date=May 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617042513/http://lifehacker.com/googles-new-my-activity-page-lets-you-see-and-delete-al-1782805053|archive-date=June 17, 2017|url-status=live }}</ref> ==Google applications== {{See also|List of Google products}}{{columns-list|colwidth=22em| * [[Blogger (service)|Blogger]] * [[Google+]] (discontinued) * [[Gmail]] * [[Google Ads]] * [[Google Alerts]] * [[Google Assistant]] * [[Google Chrome]] * [[Google Classroom]] * [[Google Contacts]] * [[Google Duo]] * [[Google Drive]] * [[Google Earth]] * [[Google Fi]] * [[Google Fit]] * [[Google Finance]] * [[Google Groups]] * [[Google Hangouts]] * [[Google Maps]] * [[Google Meet]] * [[Google News]] * [[Google One]] * [[Google Pay]] * [[Google Play]] * [[Google Photos]] * [[Google Podcasts]] * [[Google Shopping]] * [[Google Search]] * [[Google Sites]] * [[Google Translate]] * [[Google Webmaster Tools]] * [[Google Workspace]] * [[Google Voice]] * [[Google Stadia|Stadia]] * [[Tenor (website)|Tenor]] * [[Waze]] * [[YouTube]]}} ==See also== *[[Apple ID]] *[[Facebook Platform#Authentication|Facebook Platform: Authentication]] *[[Microsoft account]] *[[OpenID]] ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *{{Official website|https://myaccount.google.com/}} {{Google Inc.}} [[Category:Google|Account]] [[Category:Federated identity]]'