Jeremi M Gosney Feb 2
Erik Uden ๐Ÿ‘
This is a public service announcement to never ever use Oracle
Feb 1 at 6:19pmWeb
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1

After realizing that my servers were offline since the 25th of January 2025, I've been in contact with Oracle support in a multitude of ways trying to figure out why this happened and how we can recover both the account and data.

I wasn't told that my account was disabled. I didn't receive an E-Mail or anything. When logging in, I was simply told that my username or password was incorrect. After (successfully) resetting my password twice, I realized it wasn't about the password. Oracle had just deleted my account without any notice.

Both through calls and text, always with the same service request (SR) number, I contacted support. Initially, support told me that my account was flagged โ€œInactiveโ€ and hence disabled. They also verified that they saw me login almost daily and that I never missed a payment or anything. Even if an account was inactive, that's never a reason to disable it, especially without any warning E-Mail or an E-Mail letting me know that my account was disabled in the first place.

This chat was the result of all of that, where the highest team I've yet been elevated to told me that there's nothing they can do about it, there's no reason they can tell me for why this happened, and there's no one else I could ask.

Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1
I also love how I ask โ€œIs there anything I can do to avoid this happening in the future?โ€ and they respond with โ€œOh, don't worry. You don't have a future at Oracle. This will not happen to you again, as we don't allow for you to make another account.โ€
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1
The tech person at Oracle at least lets me know that they'd feel similarly betrayed and dislike this handling of user data too ๐ŸฅฒโœŠ
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1
Don't worry: I have backups of all of this. It's just kafkaesque what is happening here.
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1

Interestingly, two days before Oracle deleted my account and all servers associated with it, I publicly criticized Oracle's CEO in a viral post for promising dystopian AI surveillance technology to his investors.

https://mastodon.de/@ErikUden/113879369270806353

What a weird coincidence.

Erik Uden ๐Ÿ‘ (@ErikUden@mastodon.de)

Day three of Trump's term and the largest push for surveillance capitalism yet has been made: **Project Stargate** will be a $500.000.000.000 (*500 billion USD*) data center used for running a multitude of AIs with the purpose of spying on you. Larry Ellison, the world's second richest man and CEO of Oracle, one of the main partners of Stargate, said: > โ€œCitizens will be on their best behavior, because we're constantly recording and reporting everything that's going on [...]. We're using A.I. to monitor the video.โ€ โ€” Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle on how the company's A.I. systems will be used for in the future [[Source: Business Insider](https://archive.ph/2Ck66)] This is who is in power now. This is the vision they have.

MastodonDE
Show threadBookFeb 1
@ErikUden ๐Ÿค”
Show threadOllie Branch, Dubious DabblerFeb 1
@ErikUden It's so unfortunate to hear that.

I hope you get everything in order and aren't too hurt by these series of events.
Show threadChristian GudrianFeb 1
@ErikUden Not long ago I would have considered it paranoid to draw a connection hereโ€ฆ
Show threadDลบwiedziuFeb 1

@ErikUden
Oh. Teh. Lulz.

Edit: found the GDPR thread below.

Also, isn't GDPR applicable here? (I had also a account deleted with the reason of โ€œwe can't tell youโ€ (and it happened while I was asking for help with the registration) and the help desk ignored my questions for data. But I had other problems and did not get very far.)

Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1
@dzwiedziu You're absolutely right. I've sent a GDPR request immediately. The EU stands against kafkaesque practices.
Show threadHammerwellFeb 1
@ErikUden @dzwiedziu It would be interesting to see how that played out. Please share - if possible.
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 2
@Hammerwell @dzwiedziu I will keep everyone updated. Do not worry.
Show threadGreengordonFeb 1

@ErikUden

Welcome to the oligarchy!

"Interestingly, two days before Oracle deleted my account and all servers associated with it, I publicly criticized Oracle's CEO in a viral post for promising dystopian AI surveillance technology to his investors."

"What a weird coincidence."

Show threadCh M[ae][iy]e?r ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ ๐Ÿ–ค ๐ŸคFeb 1
@ErikUden oh. I was already wondering whether you had annoyed NSA, Trump or someone of his friends. ...
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1

@chbmeyer a post I recently made was reposted and only through a friend of mine seeing it I realized it had 3.8 million views on Reddit. To this day I'm being sent Instagram posts by other accounts reposting that daily through friends or because these accounts tag me.

It's easy (and even appreciated by me) when my posts leave this platform. I don't think I've angered anyone, I'm way too irrelevant. However, when arbitration is the norm, a small act like this can easily be pushed under the rug.

I guess the problem rather is that it may as well be true. Since we're given no explanation, or rather a refusal to explain what happened here by Oracle, we must come up with what sounds like a conspiracy.

Do I believe there's really a connection here? 99.9% sure there isn't. Is it possible for any AI to scan the internet for criticics and make their life harder? Sure is. Is it most likely Oracle's arbitrary practices? Yeah.

This could've happened to anyone, a critic, fan, or someone who's indifferent to Oracle. That's almost worse than it only happening to someone critical of their CEO.

Show threadTom WalkerFeb 1
@ErikUden @chbmeyer I think you're way underestimating the possibility that someone there saw the post (probably on Reddit etc), saw your relatively unusual name, found the account and banned it
Show threadJaxxAIFeb 2
@ErikUden @chbmeyer maybe it's completely unrelated to your free speech criticism of the CEO but rather a technical issue at their end. For instance, your account is corrupted and embarrassingly they have no way to restore it or fix it. Or maybe you were accidentally deleted when in fact it should have been someone else... but they can't restore. So, u get... as we say in the UK... Thrown under the bus! Just a theory mind, I can't imagine criticising a CEO of a mega corp is gonna get you booted.
Show threadBilly SmithFeb 2

@JaxxAI @ErikUden @chbmeyer

You don't remember how thin-skinned Larry Ellison is...

All his agressuve behaviour in the 1990's and early 2000's that was aimed at Gates and MS.

Show threadIvor HewittFeb 1
@ErikUden it's amazing just how fragile, bitter, vindictive and thin skinned these right wing free speech absolutist capitalists are.
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1
@ivor just to be clear, what I'm saying is a baseless accusation. I'm 99.99% sure that they didn't deliberately do this to mess with me. Although it'd be funny if they did. Even worse: maybe Oracle treats everyone like this, criticics and supporters alike.
Show threadAndreas FinkFeb 1
@ErikUden @ivor @jhamby invoke the GDPR / Data protection rights and ask for all data they have on you. They must reply by law. Otherwise sue them for damages. Thats the language american corporations at least somewhat understand.
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 2
@afink Will do!
Show threadNo Gods , no Masters! RESISTFeb 2
@afink
I think that needs to happen Monday along with some massive lawsuits against Elon because he has no business with any of my personal information...
These people are criminals, they are not intelligent.
Show threadMartin Vermeer FCDFeb 1
@ErikUden @ivor So they threatened you. We get it ๐Ÿ˜ฌ
Show threadCassandrichFeb 2
@ErikUden @ivor I'd give it the opposite odds. Oracle has always been a far right entity, and now they're going even fuhrer that direction trying to get TikTok.
Show threadOrange Lantern  Feb 1
@ErikUden And there it is, your reason. Well that was rather easy to figure out. Petty bastards though.
Show thread4censord  ๐Ÿ”œ@gpn [โ˜Ž4236]Feb 1
@ErikUden can't you do a gdrp data request, and see whether that turns anything up?
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1
@4censord Will do. The reason parts of the chat are cut out (you can see a ~10 minute gap if you look at the time) was me trying to convince him that as an EU citizen they can't do that to me or at least have to give me insight into my own data, which includes the cloud servers I currently still pay for.
Show thread4censord  ๐Ÿ”œ@gpn [โ˜Ž4236]Feb 1
@ErikUden ah, then also check how far into the future they already charged you
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1
@4censord I was just charged for the month of January and the value looks similar to other months, hence it's not like the last week (since the 25th, ever since I couldn't access / it was "deletedโ€) was not charged.
Show threadLilith Ashley Nyx ArsonFeb 1
@ErikUden if you're looking for a new host I can personally recommend royalehosting.net, customer support there is fantastic
Show threadTenkomanFeb 1
@ErikUden That's a very weird customer service (as someone who works professional with Oracle I KNOW that they have the legal required backups of customer data - and that they are legally required to inform about a termination... at least in the EU)
Show threadKรฉvin โšFeb 1
@tenkoman @ErikUden it's pretty standard customer service unfortunately outsourced probably four or five sub contractors in, so the agent is well in the dark or it's a "fraud" flag
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1
@tenkoman I'm calling with my legal insurance on Monday for this reason especially. Oracle can't really think they can just do this to an EU citizen and there'll be zero consequences? Man...
Show threadAustin Huang โค๏ธFeb 2
@tenkoman @ErikUden Maybe Cloud is different, because I've seen people claiming to be working for them saying on Reddit that there are internal guides that instruct them to never disclose the reason?
Show threadFlorian GilcherFeb 3

@austin @tenkoman @ErikUden Oracle is lawyer-heavy and this is standard procedure in such forms (any reason given can be challenged in court).

That doesn't make it right or good behaviour towards customers.

Show threadhuertanixFeb 1
@ErikUden gmx.com did this to my email address a few years ago btw.
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1
@huertanix why are they always like that :/
Show threadBfranzFeb 1
@ErikUden @huertanix enshittification at its best.
Show threadL. B. HeuschkelFeb 1
@huertanix @ErikUden Microsoft did similar to me a few years back.
Show threadDontSwitchFeb 1
@huertanix @ErikUden But that's a German company, so there should be ways to get a contact.
Show threadNr. 1Feb 2
@huertanix
'mail.com'/freemail also a 1&1 company do this on a regular basis:
"We regret to inform you that upon careful investigation and review by our mail security team, it has been determined that the account in question must remain blocked."
Show threadDolls Against GravityFeb 1
@ErikUden ๐Ÿ˜ต has this just happened to you or someone you know?
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1
@ilookloud this just happened to me. Quite shocked, though I am not surprised.
Show threadDolls Against GravityFeb 1
@ErikUden oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Kind of a wtf moment, what is that even supposed to mean?
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1

@ilookloud I paid them money. I still do. I also won't make any efforts to stop them from taking my money (additionally, I currently can't even do that, since I can't login to my account as it was deleted, although I'm seeing a charge for the next month).

So... I don't know what this is supposed to mean. It seems as if my account was deleted, but my server wasn't. I'm still paying for the server, but I will never be allowed to create an account to access that server.

Show threadDolls Against GravityFeb 1
@ErikUden That's absurd. Completely absurd. I'd be so angry, I hate things like that.
Show threadaevaFeb 1
@ErikUden @ilookloud you can probably tell your bank to refuse to pay it
Show threadErik Uden ๐Ÿ‘Feb 1
@aeva @ilookloud I won't. Maybe I then have a point about paying for a service they didn't provide. Because I cannot end my payment to them as the account I could do it through is terminated.
Show threadPesky WarlockFeb 2
@ErikUden Kill the credit card it's billing to.
Show threadBonkersFeb 1

@ErikUden @ilookloud call the credit card issuer to block further payments to them.

And it probably makes sense to make this story as public as possible.

Show threadAustin Huang โค๏ธFeb 2
@ilookloud @ErikUden I am, and I also know others who are, but those are free accounts (not PAYG). Seems like they mass terminated free accounts on or around January 22.
Show threadbmaxvFeb 1

@ErikUden sure, but that's in the terms of almost all online products.

If you don't agree to them, you can probably not post online.

And by the way, where *are* e.g. mastodon.social's TOS? Not the moderation rules, the actual TOS?

Because mastodon.social/terms gives me a 404...

Hmmm where are those for mastodon.de Mr. Vertretungsberechtigter? ๐Ÿ˜œ

Show threadDrรฅfรธlin the Derg  Feb 1
@ErikUden why would I use it in the first place
Show threadPrincess DaliusFeb 1
@ErikUden Try asking the tech support chat to ignore all previous instructions ...