Tutor
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6 Messages
Can I decouple AT&T services account from email account?
Does anyone know of a way to decouple the email account that AT&T gives you from the AT&T services account, so that the accounts have different login ID's, passwords, and security questions? Alternatively, is there a way to eliminate the email account altogether?
Here's the background for the question: I don't use the email account that AT&T gives me. However, AT&T shares the login information associated with the services account with Yahoo (the provider of the email services). Yahoo has a notoriously bad security record. Anyone who mangages to gain access to the Yahoo login credentials, also has access to the AT&T services account. This means access to the router, voice mail messages, and other personal information stored in the services account.
I have had a chat discussion with AT&T support, who tells me that AT&T does not provide a way to decouple or eliminate the email account. I suspect he is right, but I am hoping that someone in the community has other information.
I will note that the AT&T profile provides a way to "change" the access ID. However, this appears to only create an alias for the services account ID. You can still login to the AT&T services account with the email address and password of the Yahoo account.
_xyzzy_
Expert
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15K Messages
7 years ago
If you want to completely decouple then you might consider using a third party email service provide, i.e., a provider that (may) actually knows how an email service should work. There are free ones and pay ones. I haven't done the research (here's a google search) as yet. But it may be the case of you get what you pay for.
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marley01
Tutor
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6 Messages
7 years ago
I want to re-iterate that I am not looking for advice on email providers. I already use a different email provider and have no intention of ever using the email account that AT&T provides to me. The fact that I don't use the AT&T-provided email account in no way solves the issue.
The issue is that AT&T shares the user authentication data for my AT&T services account with Yahoo, and that information is part of the Yahoo database. When that Yahoo information is compromised, as it repeatedly has been, then access to the AT&T services account is also compromised. That is why I want to decouple (or eliminate) the email account.
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