[HN Gopher] Show HN: Gmail unsubscribe tool with bulk deletion a...
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       Show HN: Gmail unsubscribe tool with bulk deletion and personal
       data removal
        
       Author : extrabright
       Score  : 36 points
       Date   : 2024-10-04 19:25 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (againstdata.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (againstdata.com)
        
       | bks wrote:
       | Looks useful. Been using this for years, find it very effective -
       | https://github.com/labnol/unsubscribe-gmail
        
       | xwowsersx wrote:
       | Looks promising, and I could use some help organizing my own
       | email. But here's a question: is there a risk that people will
       | take advantage of a free trial for a one-time cleanup, and then
       | not see the need for an ongoing subscription? I'm curious if
       | that's a challenge in getting customers to commit.
        
         | heyoni wrote:
         | I feel like it should be priced as a one time fee anyway. Most
         | of us got caught up wanting to hoard emails, want to clean
         | things up but might now be diligently unsubscribing and
         | deleting things rather than save everything forever.
        
       | i_dont_know_ wrote:
       | I am the right fool... A random internet link said "can we read
       | all your email" an I clicked 'yes'.
       | 
       | Welp. Time to do some major soul-searching and digital triage.
        
       | z5h wrote:
       | I really appreciate how readable the Privacy Policy is.
       | https://againstdata.com/privacy
       | 
       | I do think there should be more details about security. This is
       | all that was mentioned:
       | 
       | > DAD constantly evaluates and upgrades the security measures
       | implemented as to ensure a secure and safe personal data
       | processing.
        
       | atum47 wrote:
       | I've talked to chatgpt about bulk deleting email and it suggested
       | a script on the Google sheets?! Apparently it was quite simple
       | and you don't have to give access to a third party app.
        
         | atum47 wrote:
         | Here's an example of how you might use Google Apps Script to
         | bulk delete emails from Gmail:
         | 
         | Steps:
         | 
         | 1. Open Google Sheets (or any other Google app that supports
         | Apps Script).
         | 
         | 2. Open the Script Editor:
         | 
         | In Sheets, go to Extensions > Apps Script.
         | 
         | 3. Write the Script:
         | 
         | function deleteOldEmails() { var threads =
         | GmailApp.search('older_than:1y'); // Modify query as needed for
         | (var i = 0; i < threads.length; i++) {
         | threads[i].moveToTrash(); // Move emails to trash } }
         | 
         | This example deletes emails older than one year
         | (older_than:1y). You can modify the search query for different
         | criteria (e.g., label:unread, from:specific@example.com,
         | before:YYYY/MM/DD).
         | 
         | 4. Save the Script.
         | 
         | 5. Run the Script:
         | 
         | Click the play icon to run the script. It will ask for
         | permissions the first time.
         | 
         | This method allows you to automate email management using
         | custom queries. Would you like to proceed with something like
         | this, or were you thinking of a different approach?
        
         | onlypassingthru wrote:
         | To be fair, writing your own apps script is a little more
         | involved, although one of the major LLMs should get you most of
         | the way there.
        
       | esses wrote:
       | I think we have been conditioned to love tools like these but not
       | want to sign up for fear of leaking personal data to the tool.
        
       | sam1r wrote:
       | In the end of the day, we all just need to clear our email
       | ourselves. That time should not go into paying you and fighting
       | your data policy which is already trespassing, in my opinion.
       | 
       | If one does not already maintain their emails and subscriptions
       | meticulously, which makes you think they will pay for your
       | service, regularly?
       | 
       | The other thing is that, let's say, if I do share my email data
       | with you -- 99% of it is likely to be immediately trashed, i just
       | haven't spent the time to do it. So to relegate that to a third
       | party, that's probably the reason I didn't delete it in the first
       | place.
       | 
       | The value-add on of this service doesn't solve my reason for
       | redundenant emails with unsub links -- i haven't had the spare
       | few seconds to verify and do it myself.
        
       | hammock wrote:
       | Not working for me right now. Spinning at different points
       | 
       | "Client error: `POST
       | https:\/\/www.googleapis.com\/oauth2\/v4\/token` resulted in a
       | `400 Bad Request` response:\n{\n \"error\": \"invalid_grant\",\n
       | \"error_description\": \"Bad Request\"\n}\n"
       | 
       | or
       | 
       | 500 Server Error
        
       | thorncorona wrote:
       | You can click on the "manage subscriptions" button in Gmail and
       | have this done natively in Gmail without passing all of your data
       | to a 3rd party.
        
         | tmpz22 wrote:
         | How have I never known about this? I've spent so much time
         | manually pruning large email inboxes...
        
         | hammock wrote:
         | Where is that button?
        
           | hshshshsvsv wrote:
           | It's on mobile app.
        
       | legitster wrote:
       | > When you choose to delete, a legal template is sent to the
       | company's privacy contact, notifying them that you have chosen to
       | delete the data they hold on you.
       | 
       | I build the systems that handle GDPR data requests. Be warned
       | that, depending on how complex the company's data systems are,
       | you may be filing a support ticket that and requires some level
       | of engagement. Especially if you are a user of said product and
       | how authentication is established, you may accidentally delete
       | your account.
       | 
       | Also, 90% of the templated GDPR removal requests we get are for
       | details that don't exist in our system. My impression of these
       | tools is they are not very smart and can end up spreading your
       | PII around more than they erase it.
        
       | abetancort wrote:
       | It does not do anything other than granting them a time
       | indefinite permission into your gmail that permission allows them
       | to read all of your emails, write and send as many new emails as
       | you as they wish and it allows them the ability to
       | delete/move/copy your emails using the gmail API.
        
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       (page generated 2024-10-04 23:01 UTC)