Google, on Tuesday, updated its “inactive account policy”, for accounts and will now delete accounts that have not been used or signed into for at least two years.
Deletion will include content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar) and Google Photos, the company said.
The policy will apply only to personal Google Accounts and will not affect accounts for organisations like businesses and schools.
While the policy has been implemented, it will not immediately impact users with inactive accounts. Deletion will begin in December 2023, the company said.
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Users will be notified over the months leading to the deletion to ensure they have ample time to save their accounts.
Google also clarified it does not have any plans of deleting accounts with YouTube videos, a report from 9to5Google said. This report came after users on social media enquired about the fate of YouTube content from dead or inactive creators.
However, there was no clarification if the users can keep an account active with a single video.
Google cited a lack of two-factor authentication and fewer security checks by users with inactive accounts as the reason behind the change in policy. The company claimed inactive accounts if compromised can be used by threat actors to perform identity theft or use these accounts to share spam or malicious content.
Users can sign in to inactive accounts or any other Google services to ensure their accounts remain active.
