Thousands of Google accounts to be deleted

In a memo sent to Google users this weekend, the company confirmed it will delete any account that has not been used for two or more years.

“Every day Google works hard to keep you and your private information safe and secure by preventing unauthorised access to your Google Account with our built-in security protections,” the memo read.

“Keeping you safe means having strong privacy practices across our products that minimise how long we store your personal files and any data associated with them.

“We want to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorised access to your account even if you’re no longer using our services.”

Google said, while the change came into effect this weekend, the first deletions will not take place until December.

“This change starts rolling out today and will apply to any Google account that’s been inactive, meaning it has not been signed into or used within a two-year period. An inactive account and any content in it will be eligible for deletion from December 1, 2023,” the company said.

“These changes do not impact you unless you have been inactive in your Google account for two years or have not used your account to sign in to any Google service for over two years.

“If your account is considered inactive, we will send several reminder emails to both you and your recovery emails (if any have been provided) before we take any action or delete any account content. These reminder emails will go out at least 8 months before any action is taken on your account.”

After a Google account is deleted, its Gmail address cannot be used again to create a new account, the company added.

How to make sure your Google account isn’t deleted

The easiest way to make sure your account isn’t impacted is to sign into it at least once every two years.

Other ways to keep the account active include reading or sending an email, watching a YouTube video while logged in or using Google search while logged in.

Accounts with attached YouTube channels, videos or comments will not be deleted even if they’re inactive, nor will accounts with gift cards that still have money on them, Google said.

Google first announced the change earlier this year.

“Starting later this year, if a Google Account has not been used or signed into for at least 2 years, we may delete the account and its contents, including content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar) and Google Photos,” Google’s vice president of product management Ruth Kricheli said at the time.

“The policy only applies to personal Google Accounts, and will not affect accounts for organisations like schools or businesses.”

The policy will help to protect users from hacking and spam, given older and inactive accounts are significantly more likely to be compromised.

“This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven’t had two factor authentication set-up, and receive fewer security checks by the user,” wrote Ms Kricheli.

“Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to have 2-step-verification set-up.

“Meaning, these accounts are often vulnerable, and once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam.”