Digital debris security vulnerability?

dogfonos

Had spare time during lockdown so thought I'd try and delete/remove a few old email addresses I no longer use yet are still live. Anyone else tried this? I knew from bitter experience that this task wouldn't be straightforward but the time I'm spending on this task is ridiculous. I'm thinking of throwing in the towel.

It got my thinking that a lot of folk must have disused yet still live email accounts - they're sprinkled upon us like confetti whenever we change ISP, whether we want them or not. I have four such email accounts (that I'm aware of).

So my question is: does anyone else view these unused yet still live email accounts as a potential security vulnerability?

J_B

My onetel email address is still on my 'get all mail' list which gets checked regularly. We left Onetel around 15 years ago!!!

I've had 3 emails from TalkTalk and 4 from Sainsburys this year!

Neil_Jones

dogfonos said:

It got my thinking that a lot of folk must have disused yet still live email accounts - they're sprinkled upon us like confetti whenever we change ISP, whether we want them or not. I have four such email accounts (that I'm aware of).

I have moved providers multiple times in the last ten years and not once have I been given a new ISP email.

To give email addresses out as part of the package used to be a selling point (and the only place you could get one), but that was back in the days before free email was a thing.  Indeed its why Hotmail was launched in the first place, because the concept of webmail where you can log into Hotmail from any internet connection on the planet didn't exist.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070210043942/http://4to40.com/legends/print.asp?id=131

JJ_Egan

No in answer to the question .

Most of my old email accounts have been ISP deleted and i don't use same passwords .

Not that i have  used ISP emails for a number of years .