Inactive accounts will be deleted from Google in December; know more

The company Google said it will delete accounts that have not been accessed for at least two years. The new inactivity policy comes into effect in December.

According to the company, users who have not been logged into a Google platform, such as Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Meet, Docs and Google Photos for the informed period, will lose access to the account. Furthermore, they will also lose the content present on the networks.

In a statement, the company stated that the update to the inactivity policy is because accounts that are unused for a long period of time become more compromised and vulnerable to possible intrusions and access theft. “Forgotten or missed accounts often rely on old or reused passwords that may have been compromised, have not had two-factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user,” Google said.

If an account is compromised, it can be used for everything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or malicious content such as spam.

It is worth noting that the measure will only apply to accounts that are for personal use and will not affect accounts from organizations such as schools or companies. The changes also include users who have a video published on their YouTube account or a subscription configured to their Google account.

How to keep your account active

If you haven’t used your account for two years or more, but don’t want it to be deleted, you can take some measures to prevent this from happening:

• Log in again at least once every two years
• Read or send an email
• Use Google Drive tools
• Watch a video on YouTube via your account
• Download an app from the Google Play Store
• Use Google search logged into your account
• Use Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service

The company said it will send notifications warning you before the account is deleted.