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submitted 1 month ago by Newhere@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

Hey everyone, can you please help me what to do- I don't have and don't use anything from Google. Now for school I am asked to provide Gmail. Is there way out ? What else, maybe some other email provider is compatible with school emailing system, because now teacher must use her personal email to email me and she is not happy at all...

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[-] gnufuu@lemmy.ca 66 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Ask your teacher to check with the IT department why there's such a restriction in the first place. Maybe they just falsely assume that Gmail == email? If they actually can't use any other provider, both you and your teacher should confront the IT department or whoever made that decision.

[-] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 33 points 1 month ago

It's probably for auth. Make all the kids get a Gmail and then use it as your identity provider. Way cheaper and easier than running your own IDP.

[-] Evotech@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

You can use google services without a google mail.

Op says their teacher must email them. So i think it’s email

[-] bushvin@lemmy.world 28 points 1 month ago

This is not as simple as you make it out to be.

Teachers are not IT experts, nor are they privacy aware in many cases. School IT people are at best tech-savvy teachers who know where the esc key is. So entering a discussion with them will end up in a monologue from their end explaining their hands are tied. Schools (or groups of schools) make decisions on what infrastructure to use, and they hardly stray from that, just like companies do.

Best bet is to setup a burner account which you solely use on school assignments. Set up your browser (or dedicate a separate browser to school) to use different profile directories (!!) so you don’t mix private with school.

[-] gnufuu@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Maybe the teacher's just using the software wrong? The "restriction" might as well be a user error. That's worth considering before giving up and making a Google account, don't you think?

[-] sculptor0725@sh.itjust.works 36 points 1 month ago

Someone else said

nobody should be expected to drop their principles on a whim.

But this is exactly what school is about, training you that you're nothing but a cog in the machine, teaching you to accept getting beaten down over nothing just because someone higher up the chain from you made a decision and why would he ever consult you in that decision you're just a lowly student/worker.

Lol that was not my experience. School taught me how to fight against oppression. It was everywhere

[-] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago

You went to a shit school then. Mine taught critical thinking, problem solving and working as a group to achieve a common goal. It also highly encouraged independent extracurricular activities with all sorts of clubs/teams that got school funding to finance their work. If you wanted it to be, you had a giant playground for academically inclined people experimenting and wanting to learn.

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[-] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 25 points 1 month ago

Never heard of an email system that can only send email to addresses from one provider.

[-] Newhere@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago

Do you think its because my email is Proton, that is why teacher can't send ? If that was Tuta or similar maybe she would bot have a problem?

[-] DanceMomsSavedMe@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 month ago

100% it is. The domain .me is blocked all the time. Try the "protonmail.com" one its blocked less

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[-] sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today 24 points 1 month ago

When I was in school they provided me an outlook email. I used it only for school and made sure not to put in too much personal detail. If I had to use a personal email I'd use an alias. When I had to access it at home I'd login via a website. No systems schools use are in any way good for privacy so just keep it isolated as well as possible

[-] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 1 month ago

Just make a Gmail account and set it up to forward to your real one. Only things that live in it will be the stuff for this class, and only temporarily.

What do you actually lose privacy wise from that? They get to know you're in the class you're in and see a very small subset of your communications related to it.

Ultimately, you're the only one who can decide how much extra friction you're willing to put up with for your principles, but in my experience it's better to just make whatever bare minimum skeleton account you can to meet the needs and get on with life. Would you rather spend time fighting to make your special case setup work while giving the teacher reasons to evaluate your work more harshly, or learning the material?

Plus, there are benefits to blending in.

[-] TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Those are some important principles. Recently, I’ve been thinking about following this method in a completely different context.

Using a privacy-respecting phone is entirely doable as long as you don’t need to interact with certain parts of the modern world. In 2010, such problems didn’t exist, but mobile Linux wasn’t available for this kind of use. Nowadays it is, but the world around it has moved on, and what’s required for a daily driver of a normie has changed radically.

So here’s how to adapt: Get some basic Android phone and use it for doing the few necessities that don’t work on a FOSS-based phone. That Android is just a skeleton. There’s nothing too personal, and you don’t use it for anything unless absolutely necessary. Same as that Gmail idea, but adapted.

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[-] lyralycan@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 month ago

The blame isn't on you tbf nobody should be expected to drop their principles on a whim. Being compatible only with gmail is so bad.. I hope you can work it out but it's more a thing for school faculty to change.

Worst case scenario you make a burner acc. Are you sure there's no "login/connect with another provider" type link?

[-] pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Bruh that's crazy that the school doesn't give you an email for comms

Edit: and what kind of mailing system can only send emails to @gmail.com, that's additionally stupid

[-] bananapinball@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 month ago

Google Classroom is generally managed by the School's IT. Your setup is strange if they request public gmail account and not internal account in the school tenant.

  1. Your teacher is correct in not being happy. Giving their personal email to a student is... problematic
  2. Remember that your privacy is already breached when a 3rd party in the communication is using gmail
  3. Simply create a burner gmail account and do not use that for anything else than inside your school's google ecosystem
[-] StumblingWasabi@lemmy.today 3 points 1 month ago

How do you get a burner account without a phone number?

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[-] Steve@communick.news 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

That sounds super weird.
Does the school provide a Google account and email?
Even if they wanted it for authentication purposes, they'd have their own setup through Google. They wouldn't insist on you having one.

Is it just one teacher?
Ask another, see what they say.
If they confirm that's how it works, then just make a gmail account for school.
If not, then you can decide how much you want to push back and educate this one teacher.

[-] trilobite@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 month ago

This is a massive problem here too. Schools create these google accounts where teachers share work, etc. Its as if only google existed. How can we teach our kids to be openminded? I praise the suposedly young person that posted. Not all young people understand the threats of lockins.

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[-] FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Agree. Also weird b/c G has a special Google for Education scheme for schools. Which the school would be tied into, and accounts would be made through that. G makes promises like it won't use the student's data for other purposes, no profiling, no ads, etc.

I still wouldn't be happy with having to use G as a student. For lots of reasons, like normalizing it so students will keep using G after they graduate. Even so, I believe G does make a good faith effort to adhere to their promises about not using student data for other purposes. But prob only if done through the official channels to create the acct.

[-] SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

Why does your school not have their own in house email for students?

[-] comrade_twisty@feddit.org 8 points 1 month ago

Most schools in the US use gmail as their in house email, even if you get a purdue.edu address the interface and backend is all gmail.

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[-] Newhere@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 month ago

I found this article. I will try to create Gmail account in library, because through my Tor browser with VPN is asking phone nr. https://itsourcecode.com/blogs/how-to-create-a-gmail-account-without-a-phone-number/

[-] FoxAlive@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 month ago

You cannot create a gmail without a phone number these days. There used to be work aroubda where you sign up for a gmail via youtube or on a smart TV (don't advise the smart TV one), but I'm sure that doesn't work anymore.

I think if you don't want the gmail associated with your phone number you just have to buy a prepaid phone. If you live in a country where you can't pay for prepaids with cash and without an I'D, then I don't know. Welcome to the ponopticon I guess.

I can't vouch for those paid SMS services, they seem like a scam to me.

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[-] Newhere@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 month ago

Participants, what is I use Googlemail@proton.me ? Hahahahahha I was trying to find a solution which looks like Gmail to pass them😅 anyway, I will be talking with teacher in next days and I will ask about why they need my Gmail only. And I will say that I don't even have one. Maybe it will be enough to tell that all necessary info I will get during physical meetings and there is no reason to email me.

[-] randomuser38529@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Thanks, I hate it 🤣

[-] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago

While funny, your teacher and school aren't going to give you kudos for being a smartass.

[-] Newhere@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

I know... trying to find a way that everyone would be happy...

[-] zdhzm2pgp@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Perhaps you could direct your teacher to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmail#Criticism. This is just laziness and stupidity on the part of the school, IMNSHO.

EDIT: Although, to be fair, the school is probably getting this from Google for free—that's how they getcha.

[-] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 month ago

Teacher likely doesn’t have the power to change the system and is just another user, so you’d just be tilting at a windmill. At best, preaching to the choir.

It would be like me telling you why I don’t like Gmail since you don’t seem to like it, either.

[-] artyom@piefed.social 5 points 1 month ago

Just give them your email and tell them it is gmail.

[-] mp3@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago

Tell them it your own custom domain in Google Workspace.

[-] technobyte@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

"Yeah I own protonmail.com"

[-] kepix@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

until this day, you can register your own email for youtube. it might work as a google login later on.

[-] ViatorOmnium@piefed.social 5 points 1 month ago

Where do you live? Does the school expect a personal Gmail account or do they have a Google Workspace account that they expect you to use?

[-] Zerush@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago

AFAIK Proton permits to redirect mails from Gmail and others to Proton Mail.

[-] hexagonwin@lemmy.today 4 points 1 month ago

google is very picky about this, but you can still create a google acc if using a "trusted" environment.

i had success on a relative's android phone (with preexisting google acc and valid usim) and school computer (windows chrome). they probably internally log ties to that machine being used to create acc, but at least it doesn't ask for phone number to auth and stuff. so, try using your school computer/tablet/etc for registration

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[-] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Just get one. If you only use it for school, and the school mandates it, Google is going to know where you're going to school and nothing more. The school has chosen to share that information with them. There's nothing you can do about that.

Just make sure you only use it from a non-gmail client. And zip and password protect any files you send if you can.

[-] Newhere@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 month ago

To get Gmail I need phone nr. If I put phone nr,it's connected Gmail with phone nr. I don't want G know anything about me.

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[-] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago

You can create a junk gmail account which forwards school emails to another email account. Since school is fully Google they already have those emails. Or wonder why they are fully submitted to Google.

[-] Newhere@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago

Is it possible to make Gmail account without phone nr verification? If yes, I could do it.
And junk Gmail is it regular account used only for school or some kind of other type of Gmail?

[-] Eh_I@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

What school is this? This isn't like the Hollywood Upstairs Medical Academy is it?

[-] MoonRaven@feddit.nl 2 points 1 month ago

If it's that you have to use a Google account, you should still be able to register your own email account as a Google account.

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this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2026
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