Account recovery mechanism fatally flawed - my cameras are dead-in-the-water

[pabugeater]

Because I could no longer login into Google Home to view my cameras, I initiated an account recovery, which indicated I'd have to wait 48 hours before instructions on how to complete the recovery would arrive.

After a few hours an email arrived saying the recovery was canceled because I was already logged in.   The PW is an Apple strong PW so it's very unlikely someone other that me logged in - but I did not login, must be an already logged in service?

So I start a second recovery but this time it says I must wait 120 freaking hours - 5 days.  Unacceptable.  A few hours later this 2nd attempt was canceled, same reason.

I wait 5 days waiting for an ADT tech to arrive but he says nothing to do other than start another recovery, which he initiates on my behalf.  Good news is that it starts and the delay is back to 48 hours.  But a few hours later Google cancels it for a third time.

And you can see where this is going, I just did recovery try #4 and I'm back to waiting for 5 freaking days - if it ever gets processed.

What the heck I going on, how do I recover my cameras ??????  I was hoping the ADT guy would factory reset the cameras and re-add them to another gmail account ..

Thanks,

Steve

[MplsCustomer]

@pabugeater 

I'm not sure why you initiated an account recovery, unless you suspected your account had been hacked.

When you couldn't log into the Google Home app, did you try deleting and reinstalling the Google Home app? Did you try to log into the home.google.com app? Did you try logging into Google in your browser? (This forum requires you to log into a Google Account in order to post here.)

You said you got an email saying you were already logged in. It's possible to be logged into Google on multiple devices, as documented here:

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3067630

If you follow those instructions, you can see which devices have logged onto your Google Account in the last 28 days.

[pabugeater]

I'm not sure why you initiated an account recovery, unless you suspected your account had been hacked.

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@MplsCustomer wrote:

@pabugeater 

I'm not sure why you initiated an account recovery, unless you suspected your account had been hacked.

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I was in the middle of transferring my computer files to a new machine when "something" happened with the Gmail account, so I changed the password, and as usual used an Apple strong password which I depend on being stored in my keychain.  After the migration it seems that did not happen - my guess is that it went to the old machine's keychain and hence was lost when I reformatted.  I didn't want to bother the list with the technical detail, people must forget / lose their PW all the time, this must be a common problem, or so my thinking went 🙂

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When you couldn't log into the Google Home app, did you try deleting and reinstalling the Google Home app? Did you try to log into the home.google.com app? Did you try logging into Google in your browser? (This forum requires you to log into a Google Account in order to post here.)

I did not delete Google Home, but it (the Google backend) knows I changed the password, it even tells me how many hours ago I changed it.  I have tried the web App but it reacts just like Google Home, forces me into an account recovery.

I was on the phone 6 hours over two days with gmail tech, their only suggestion was to create a new gmail account (which I'm using for these messages) and migrate the cameras to this account.  That is what I hoped the ADT tech would do today. 

So Im' getting multiple conflicting stories from ADT and Google, and am wits end, in a maze of twisty passages, all different.

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https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3067630

If you follow those instructions, you can see which devices have logged onto your Google Account in the last 28 days.

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I cannot login to that account, that is the entire problem.  Thanks for your input.

Steve

[EdmondB · Accepted solution]

Hello pabugeater, 

Hey there! It sounds like you're having trouble logging into your Nest account. I'm here to help you.

The Gmail tech support team's recommendations are usually on point. When people have trouble accessing their old Nest accounts, we often recommend this as a solution.

To get started, you can create a new Gmail account and use it to log in to the Nest app or Google Home app. Once you've set up your new Nest account, you can transfer your old Nest devices over, depending on what kind they are.

Since your Nest camera was set up by ADT, it's probably a 2nd Generation Nest camera or doorbell. If that's the case, you'll need to factory reset it twice so it's automatically removed from your old Nest account.

One important thing to keep in mind: if you have a Nest Aware subscription through ADT, you'll need to transfer it to your new account. You can only do this through ADT support.

Thanks for the help, @MplsCustomer. 

Let me know if you have additional questions.

Best,
Edmond

[pabugeater]

Hello Edmond - thank you for the informative reply.  Apologies for my late response, I was in my Google-imposed digital lockdown trying to recover the original gmail account - spoiler, it worked, I have my cameras back!

But what a PITA, it was the 5th (6th ?) account recovery try before I realized that I had to stop every possible activity related to google, and one of those things was to quit running a mail app, on the Mac or the phone, so I never read or wrote an email for the you-are-hostage-to-google-time period of 120 hours (although I was alerted to incoming mail on my watch).  At the appointed time of 21:45, on the same day that you replied to me, I peeked at my inbox … nothing, no instructions on how to reset the password.

But I held out hope that there must be a delay in processing the recovery, and amazingly 76 minutes later at 23:01 the email arrived that allowed me to reset the password.  I wrote this down, and it’s also in my keychain 🙂

But wait, if you aren’t bored by now, there’s more.  I had already created a new gmail account days before and signed into Google Home with that new email.  And I had been advised just to add the recovered gmail to the App which is what I did, so there are now TWO gmails associated with my “home”.  But no one ever suggested that I could factory reset the cameras twice, thus I could have done that 12 days ago and been spared this entire ordeal.  So thank you for that information, and I found the reset instructions on these fine pages.

But wait, there’s more :). Through these many days of machinations I’ve learned that a “gmail” is really an “account” and not just an email address, and that there are actually two passwords associated with a gmail account, one for the account and one for the email.  They start out being the same so for google-challenged folks like myself things are simple.  But it seems I find myself in the situation where the recovered email/account has different passwords ….. so, my question is:

Which password is the Google Home App using, account or gmail?  

Confused and dazed, but with many thanks,

Steve

[MplsCustomer]

@pabugeater 

I'm just another Google Nest customer, but I have just ONE Google Account with ONE gmail address and ONE password associated with Google Nest and our Google Nest "home/structure". Since 2020, after migrating from a Nest Account to a Google Account, I have always used just one gmail address and password to log onto the Google Nest app and the Google Home app.

That Google Account, of course has a 2-step verification phone number, a recovery phone number, and a recovery email.

[EdmondB]

Hey there,
 

Thanks for the info. Typically, when we log in to the Google Home or Nest app, we use the password associated with the Gmail account you created.

Since you've created a new account, though, I'd recommend simply transferring the Nest device and the Nest Aware subscription from ADT over to that new account. This should work if you're still having trouble getting into your old Gmail account.

Let me know if you still have further questions. 

Best, 
Edmond

[pabugeater]

Hi folks - regarding two passwords perhaps I was thinking along these lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjGzoC8WnU4

In any case, 1) things are (mostly) working, and 2) I think there is a macOS/Safari bug, since the account associated with the cameras behaves oddly: iOS can login to it, Chrome on macOS can login to it, but Safari on macOS cannot login to it.

I have clues which you are not going to hear that the issue is much more complicated, but after 14 days, I quit 🙂

Thanks all.

[Lance_L]

Hi Steve,

We understand your frustration. If you ever change your mind, we'll be here to help.

Thanks for lending a hand, MplsCustomer and Edmond.

All the best,

Lance

[steveo98501]

Google account recovery is fatally flawed because they are too cheap to hire real security experts who understand how to design secure but usable account recovery processes that do not end up relying on single point irredeemable points of failure.

[EmersonB]

Hello steveo98501,

Thanks for reaching out here in the Community. We appreciate your thoughts about the account recovery security. We encourage you to share your feedback with your Google Home app.

From the Google Home app

Step 1. Turn on device reports

1. Make sure your phone or tablet is connected to the same Wi-Fi or linked to the same account as your speaker, display, Chromecast, or Pixel Tablet.
2. Open the Google Home app .
3. Tap and hold your device's tile.
4. Tap Settings Recognition & sharing.
5. Turn on Send [device model] device usage and crash reports to Google (example, Send Google Home device usage and crash reports to Google).

Step 2. Share your feedback

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. At the upper-right corner, tap your Google Account profile picture or first initial of your name.
3. Tap Feedback the device type for which you want to provide feedback.
4. Tap Get Started.
5. In the field provided, enter the details of your feedback. Make sure not to include sensitive information.
6. Tap Send .
7. You can highlight or hide info if needed. You can also remove the screenshot, or tap Attach a screenshot if you unintentionally removed it.
8. Tap Continue.
9. Select either Yes or No when prompted to receive email information or updates about your feedback.

Regards,

Emerson