https://lauren.vortex.com/2025/01/03/google-ombudsman
I just had a good laugh. Someone asked me this morning how they could reach the "Google Ombudsman" for help with an account lockout issue. And I laughed not because their situation was funny, but because of the sad fact that I've been pushing for #Google to establish an Ombudsman (or these days, often called Ombudsperson) role, for ... well ... decades. I've pushed from the outside. When I had the opportunity, I've pushed from the inside. Obviously, I never had any luck with this.
But I did get curious again today. For years, my essays on this topic ranked very high on Google Search. What about now?
Another laugh! I searched for:
google ombudsman
and a blog post of mine on this topic from 2009 is still on the first page of search results -- 16 years later!
This was actually superseded by my more recent posts about this, such as 2017's "Brief Thoughts on a Google Ombudsman and User Trust":
https://lauren.vortex.com/2017/06/12/brief-thoughts-on-a-google-ombudsman-and-user-trust
But the story is still exactly the same as it was originally -- Google has never been willing to budge on this issue, even as the need for such a role (or roles) has dramatically increased over the years, not just for issues related to account lockouts and other traditional Google user problems that cry out for valid escalation paths, but of course now related to the rapidly rising range of AI-related controversies.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Very sad.
--Lauren--
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
@lauren I literally have friends who work on all levels of account infrastructure at Google, especially Account Recovery, and even I definitely do not want to deal with an account lockout if at all avoidable.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from foxxtrot@dice.camp
@foxxtrot I've argued with G for decades about this, and at quite high levels too. It's a continuing train wreck, as I've written about many times.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
@lauren @foxxtrot I had fun over the holiday trying to help an older relative log into their Gmail. The recovery phone is a landline. That worked fine when the account was set up because you could receive a voice call that announced the code. Now they only support getting the code via text messages which do not work on landlines. This lockout is 100% Google's fault.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from jmorris@mastodon.social
@jmorris @lauren @foxxtrot Sounds like something worth a warning campaign for our older friends and family. If you have a land-line on your google account for account recovery - CHANGE IT NOW. (They can still change their recovery phone if they can log into their google account, right?)
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from jkramersmyth@digipres.club
@jkramersmyth @jmorris @foxxtrot I've made a query about this.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
text/geminiThis content has been proxied by September (3851b).