As we all know, privacy starts with security, which leads many people in this community to seek out secure services / software, some relentlessly so.
Then life happens, and suddenly you find yourself naked in a back alley in Hanoi (or if you already live in the region, you might instead find yourself naked in Santiago de Chile), stripped of all belongings and at best some vague recollection of an unusually good night. What is your strategy to regain access to what you need to get back home?
An no, the staff at the hotel does not recognize you.
thoughts and prayers
I’m thankfully currently not in that situation, but while the situation is meant as a joke, the question is serious.
If I stored everything I needed on a Google account that’s not 2FA-enabled and with a password you remember in your head, things are not that bleak in this particular situation, although it is hardly a convenience that makes it worth it to have that kind of setup in my opinion (and I would assume to most people frequenting this community).
When was the last time you tried to access a Google account from another device in a new location? They won’t let you in, you’ll be in a maze of fake “wrong password” errors, recovery emails that never arrive because they have nevet been sent and whatever they came up with this year.