Yahoo Begins Recycling Usernames Inactive Over A Year on July 15

kaptitsky · 14 Jul 2013, 11:02 PM

Somehow just found the note that starting July 15, Yahoo is about to reclaim and reuse e-mail addresses inactive over one year.

The e-commerce community is very concerned about this move because it means that new people might get access to other accounts linked to those specific Yahoo addresses.

yourname@yahoo.com Can Be Yours!

You decide what this means to you.

Do you need to login TODAY to a Yahoo account you want to keep?

Do you think this is a horrible security move by Yahoo?

Do you think this gives you a chance to get a hand-me-down Yahoo address you always wanted?

I just wish I heard about it earlier

Dutchie007 · 14 Jul 2013, 11:40 PM

Personaly I think it´s good that yahoo does this...I mean what meaning has it to keep all those usernames „active“ when poeple do not even log in over a year?? Come on people.....a YEAR!! I mean if they did this after 3 months....I can understand why people get upset...but a YEAR?

I just wonder when AOL starts to do this.....LOL! They´d better do it...and soon.
This is just my personal opinion.

D

just1acc · 15 Jul 2013, 12:33 AM

Good move. I know the security concern. But the people who don't even care to log in a year don't deserve it.

Hope they'll let people register username@yahoo.com and username@yahoo.in/us/ca etc, considering them different (like Microsoft).

robert@fm · 15 Jul 2013, 01:04 AM

I'm not sure using a "recycled" email address is such a good idea. Maybe if it gets you the address you always wanted -- the trouble is, you would get not only your spam, but all the previous owner's spam as well.

David · 15 Jul 2013, 01:16 AM

A recycled address might be a good idea if the previous owner was yourself

kaptitsky · 15 Jul 2013, 02:02 AM

Whatever rationale Yahoo is giving in public for this move, it should allow them to pare down their user load to only active clients, pruning deadwood out of the server farm, which may enhance reliability and performance for the active users. That might be good.

I wouldn't suspect that Yahoo will immediately go to full e-mail address logins across the board, allowing the possibility of the same username at different Yahoo domains. That seems quite a leap from Yahoo tradition and one that would involve lots of changes for millions of current users, probably too much to ask.

B4its2L8 · 15 Jul 2013, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaptitsky

Somehow just found the note that starting July 15, Yahoo is about to reclaim and reuse e-mail addresses inactive over one year.

Hmm... Yahoo is returning inactive addresses to the 'available' list on July 15th and Twinkies are returning to shelves the same day. Coincidence or conspiracy ?

David · 15 Jul 2013, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B4its2L8

Hmm... Yahoo is returning inactive addresses to the 'available' list on July 15th and Twinkies are returning to shelves the same day. Coincidence or conspiracy ?

It's not yet the 15th in the United States

kaptitsky · 15 Jul 2013, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B4its2L8

Hmm... Yahoo is returning inactive addresses to the 'available' list on July 15th and Twinkies are returning to shelves the same day. Coincidence or conspiracy ?

I saw Twinkies at my Wally (Wal-Mart) yesterday. Hope Yahoo doesn't get the addresses early!

RFK · 17 Jul 2013, 03:38 AM

Reserve desired user name here: https://wishlist.yahoo.com/

mike1977 · 19 Jul 2013, 08:11 AM

The couple accounts I closed several years ago...the usernames still haven't been recycled.

For better security, the sites need to adapt to requesting some info before going through with password resets, access to information, etc.

One good thing about recycling email addresses is if someone signed for several names but hasn't used them since creating them, it gives others a chance to use it.

Just Bill · 20 Jul 2013, 06:38 PM

It would be nice if Gmail would do that as well. But, very highly doubtful it will ever happen.

mike1977 · 20 Jul 2013, 07:22 PM

At first in beta, I'm sure I read that email addresses may be made available to others. And then they changed it to not recycling them. I think they should recycle them after a certain amount of time has passed.

William9 · 23 Jul 2013, 06:15 AM

Another concern with Yahoo! Mail. I received an email from them stating that my wish list for one of those recycled user names had been accepted. I didn't submit any requests.

kaptitsky · 23 Jul 2013, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by William9

Another concern with Yahoo! Mail. I received an email from them stating that my wish list for one of those recycled user names had been accepted. I didn't submit any requests.

Maybe you'll get a real cool name and then you can sell it on eBay!

14 Jul 2013, 11:02 PM	#1
kaptitsky The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,186	Yahoo Begins Recycling Usernames Inactive Over A Year on July 15 Somehow just found the note that starting July 15, Yahoo is about to reclaim and reuse e-mail addresses inactive over one year. The e-commerce community is very concerned about this move because it means that new people might get access to other accounts linked to those specific Yahoo addresses. yourname@yahoo.com Can Be Yours! You decide what this means to you. Do you need to login TODAY to a Yahoo account you want to keep? Do you think this is a horrible security move by Yahoo? Do you think this gives you a chance to get a hand-me-down Yahoo address you always wanted? I just wish I heard about it earlier

19 Jul 2013, 08:11 AM	#11
mike1977 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Auburn Posts: 153	The couple accounts I closed several years ago...the usernames still haven't been recycled. For better security, the sites need to adapt to requesting some info before going through with password resets, access to information, etc. One good thing about recycling email addresses is if someone signed for several names but hasn't used them since creating them, it gives others a chance to use it. Last edited by mike1977 : 19 Jul 2013 at 08:28 AM.

14 Jul 2013, 11:40 PM	#2
Dutchie007 Essential Contributor Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 391	Personaly I think it´s good that yahoo does this...I mean what meaning has it to keep all those usernames „active“ when poeple do not even log in over a year?? Come on people.....a YEAR!! I mean if they did this after 3 months....I can understand why people get upset...but a YEAR? I just wonder when AOL starts to do this.....LOL! They´d better do it...and soon. This is just my personal opinion. D

15 Jul 2013, 12:33 AM	#3
just1acc Essential Contributor Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 453	Good move. I know the security concern. But the people who don't even care to log in a year don't deserve it. Hope they'll let people register username@yahoo.com and username@yahoo.in/us/ca etc, considering them different (like Microsoft).

15 Jul 2013, 01:04 AM	#4
robert@fm The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 4,681	I'm not sure using a "recycled" email address is such a good idea. Maybe if it gets you the address you always wanted -- the trouble is, you would get not only your spam, but all the previous owner's spam as well.

15 Jul 2013, 01:16 AM	#5
David Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Canada. Posts: 10,355	A recycled address might be a good idea if the previous owner was yourself

15 Jul 2013, 02:02 AM	#6
kaptitsky The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,186	Whatever rationale Yahoo is giving in public for this move, it should allow them to pare down their user load to only active clients, pruning deadwood out of the server farm, which may enhance reliability and performance for the active users. That might be good. I wouldn't suspect that Yahoo will immediately go to full e-mail address logins across the board, allowing the possibility of the same username at different Yahoo domains. That seems quite a leap from Yahoo tradition and one that would involve lots of changes for millions of current users, probably too much to ask.

17 Jul 2013, 03:38 AM	#10
RFK Essential Contributor Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: USA Posts: 299	Reserve desired user name here: https://wishlist.yahoo.com/

20 Jul 2013, 06:38 PM	#12
Just Bill Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 192	It would be nice if Gmail would do that as well. But, very highly doubtful it will ever happen.

20 Jul 2013, 07:22 PM	#13
mike1977 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Auburn Posts: 153	At first in beta, I'm sure I read that email addresses may be made available to others. And then they changed it to not recycling them. I think they should recycle them after a certain amount of time has passed.

23 Jul 2013, 06:15 AM	#14
William9 The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 2,281	Another concern with Yahoo! Mail. I received an email from them stating that my wish list for one of those recycled user names had been accepted. I didn't submit any requests.