Update: Gmail messages NOT directed to wrong accounts

News Type: none — Seeded on Sun Jan 22, 2006 12:50 PM EST

Article Source: Ars Technica

technology, google, email, gmail, e-mail, mail

This is really scary. Does this mean that someone else could have potentially been reading *all* of your emails? Google needs to address this right now.

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Public Discussion (24)

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0.6

0.4

{"commentId":11753,"authorDomain":"wilco"}

Adam WilcoxDeleted

{"commentId":11762,"authorDomain":"cantoni"}

Robert Cantoni

The link is a nonstory.

Google's behavior is to forward myname@gmail.com and my.name@gmail.com (and any other variation of the dots, e.g. my.n.a.m.e@gmail.com) to the same address. But they don't allow more than one variation of that address to be registered— if you've already registered myname@gmail.com, then no one can register my.name or any other variant.

The problem assumed in the article is that Google does allow myname and my.name to be registered to separate individuals. This is not the current behavior at gmail (try it!) — maybe it was in the past.

{"commentId":11762,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"cantoni"}

#2 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 1:50 PM EST

{"commentId":11763,"authorDomain":"redskinsfan"}

redskinsfan

According to the story though, there is a ryan.coleman and a ryancoleman and they have been getting each other's emails. Also, google has confirmed this. What is not possible (thankfully) is to log into each other's accounts.

{"commentId":11763,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"redskinsfan"}

#3 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 1:55 PM EST

{"commentId":11777,"authorDomain":"pauls"}

Paul Stamatiou

THIS IS NOT TRUE ANYMORE. THIS WAS ONLY BACK IN 2004. GOOGLE FIXED THIS A LONGGGG TIME AGO.

{"commentId":11777,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"pauls"}

#4 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 2:26 PM EST

{"commentId":11778,"authorDomain":"redskinsfan"}

redskinsfan

Well, I just tested it (my gmail account has a '.' in it. I sent the email to the same account without the period and it arrived in my inbox) and it still occurred. So, they may have prevented people for opening accounts with the same name with or without the period, but if that account currently exists, the mail will be redirected to both inboxes.

{"commentId":11778,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"redskinsfan"}

#5 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 2:29 PM EST

{"commentId":11795,"authorDomain":"simbul"}

Simbul

The article has been updated:

Update: Ryan Coleman has since admitted he was mistaken, and that the e-mails he received addressed to ryancolemand@gmail.com were misaddressed.

{"commentId":11795,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"simbul"}

#6 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 3:15 PM EST

{"commentId":11796,"authorDomain":"wilco"}

Adam WilcoxDeleted

{"commentId":11801,"authorDomain":"myobie"}

myobie

Let's not get so uptight next time and try to find out the truth.

{"commentId":11801,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"myobie"}

#8 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 3:33 PM EST

{"commentId":11818,"authorDomain":"redskinsfan"}

redskinsfan

That's a relief (that it was a mistake). I was panicking that literally thousands of my messages were received and read by someone else.

{"commentId":11818,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"redskinsfan"}

#9 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 4:00 PM EST

{"commentId":11820,"authorDomain":"hadj"}

Hadj

I think we should learn of this, Google could have suffered a lot of damage (and maybe it has). This news has spread like fire even appearing on slahdot.

{"commentId":11820,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"hadj"}

#10 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 4:13 PM EST

{"commentId":11827,"authorDomain":"jonmosser"}

Jon Mosser

FUD.

{"commentId":11827,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"jonmosser"}

#11 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 4:32 PM EST

{"commentId":11877,"authorDomain":"mrsharkattack"}

Mr. Shark Attack

n.o.n.s.t.o.r.y.

{"commentId":11877,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"mrsharkattack"}

#12 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 8:14 PM EST

{"commentId":11882,"authorDomain":"francis"}

France

I was wondering why I received some spam directed to the 'dot' version of one of my gmail accounts.

Well thought-out approach in my mind. Common sense since the 'dot' delimiter way is becoming the more prevalent method of denoting multi-words/names in email addresses - at least in corporate environments.

{"commentId":11882,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"francis"}

#13 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 8:33 PM EST

{"commentId":11894,"authorDomain":"ahb"}

AHB

Smooth everyone. Real smooth

{"commentId":11894,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"ahb"}

#14 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 9:00 PM EST

{"commentId":11914,"authorDomain":"jonmosser"}

Jon Mosser

Kudos to the Newsvine crowd, though - this was correctly identified as an incorrect story within 2 posts. This kind of thing is natural in internet news - /. got taken in (no big surprise) as did some other sites. In my mind, however, this underscores the need for a "vote down" feature - this is still hanging around the front page, just because it was incorrect, and is basically conveying a misleading headline to those who skim it.

{"commentId":11914,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"jonmosser"}

#15 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 10:09 PM EST

{"commentId":11947,"authorDomain":"christopher"}

Christopher Woods

I hope the seeder notices these comments and updates the article heading in accordance with these past comments, it's the logical course of action (considering the article is now technically an article of misinformation as the story behind it has been proven to be inaccurate from the source)...

... Also agree that this is another strong case for a vote down feature to be implemented asap.

{"commentId":11947,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"christopher"}

#16 - Sun Jan 22, 2006 11:26 PM EST

{"commentId":11962,"authorDomain":"timrobinson"}

Tim Robinson

Actually, as recently as yesterday, I have been receiving emails addressed to the dotted version of my email address. At first I thought it was some sort of weird spam, but it turns out that it wasn't at all. I was (and am) getting someone else's email.

{"commentId":11962,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"timrobinson"}

#17 - Mon Jan 23, 2006 12:08 AM EST

{"commentId":11980,"authorDomain":"redskinsfan"}

redskinsfan

I'd be happy to change the title of the seed to indicate that this story contains misinformation, however, I'm not convinced that this is so. For example, Tim's comment above indicates that he is getting some messages from the dotted version of his address.

What this is telling me is that perhaps at some point in the past it was possible to register both a.b@gmail.com and ab@gmail.com. These were two separate addresses registered to two separate people. Google have now disabled this feature, yet those accounts that were initially created still exist and mail is still being routed to the incorrect (or both) address.

I think we need official word from google as to what is going on. This story is now on slashdot and digg. Hopefully this will encourage google to come out with an official word.

{"commentId":11980,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"redskinsfan"}

#18 - Mon Jan 23, 2006 1:04 AM EST

{"commentId":11985,"authorDomain":"mark"}

mark

You'll all be happy to know your Newsvine email address treats .s like any old character!

{"commentId":11985,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"mark"}

#19 - Mon Jan 23, 2006 1:10 AM EST

{"commentId":11991,"authorDomain":"redskinsfan"}

redskinsfan

After some further sleuthing, it appears that indeed a.b@gmail.com and ab@gmail.com do go to the SAME inbox and that this is not a Gmail bug. I've just run a couple of tests, sending email to first.last@gmail.com, firstlast@gmail.com, and f.i.r.s.t.l.a.s.t@gmail.com. All arrived in my inbox.

I do wonder, however, if in the early days of Gmail different people could register the same account with or without the period? Hopefully all the attention that this topic has generated will result in an official word from google.

I've updated the title of the seed.

{"commentId":11991,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"redskinsfan"}

#20 - Mon Jan 23, 2006 1:34 AM EST

{"commentId":11992,"authorDomain":"jwm"}

jason m

This seems like a sensible feature to me. If I've registered john.doe@gmail.com, I don't want someone else to come along and register johndoe@gmail.com. Senders forgetting the dot would probably lead to many instances of someone else reading my e-mail. On the other hand, assuming no one else has registered the name, I would want e-mail addressed to the incorrect version to be forwarded to me. A dot is a pretty easy thing for some sender to forget, after all.

I think it's also a good idea that they don't allow - or — characters. The more conventions there are, and the simpler they are, the easier it would be to remember people's e-mail addresses.

{"commentId":11992,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"jwm"}

#21 - Mon Jan 23, 2006 1:34 AM EST

{"commentId":12014,"authorDomain":"fitness"}

Ivan Raszl

It's not a bug, it's a feature.

{"commentId":12014,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"fitness"}

#22 - Mon Jan 23, 2006 3:11 AM EST

{"commentId":12075,"authorDomain":"christopher"}

Christopher Woods

IIRC, Gmail is still in Beta... Which gives them no need to explain themselves for any problems that may have arisen, such as this problem when gmail first started - because it's still 'in beta testing'...

I like how Google thinks. Pass the buck and look good doing it. :D

{"commentId":12075,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"christopher"}

#23 - Mon Jan 23, 2006 9:04 AM EST

{"commentId":14721,"authorDomain":"rycoleman"}

Ryan Coleman

In my mind, however, this underscores the need for a "vote down" feature - this is still hanging around the front page, just because it was incorrect, and is basically conveying a misleading headline to those who skim it.

I agree wholeheartedly, as the (rather embarrassed) original author of that blog post I agree. I realized pretty soon after the original post the mistake I had made. By that time though the damage was done. I actually spent that entire afternoon trying to "re-cork the bottle". The biggest challenge was the lack of a real hard & effective "Vote down" feature in Digg. (and to take it a step forward the original submitter should have the ability to kill a story instantly). I emailed Digg admins immediately after I made the correction post but it still took hours for the post to get flagged and taken down.

As for Slash-dot - I've got no idea what they were smoking two days later when they green-lit a post referencing the original story almost 48 hours after I'd posted a correction.

It certainly was an experience though and some valuable lessons were learned - especially the powerful snowball effect the web can have.

- Ryan

{"commentId":14721,"threadId":"580","contentId":"66966","authorDomain":"rycoleman"}

#24 - Fri Jan 27, 2006 4:38 PM EST

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"580","isPrivate":false}

REDSKINSFAN

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Update: Gmail messages NOT directed to wrong accounts

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Update: Gmail messages *NOT* directed to wrong accounts

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Update: Gmail messages NOT directed to wrong accounts