Google has announced that it is planning to delete inactive Google Accounts that have not been used in two years, they have said that this new policy comes into effect from now, although they will not delete any accounts until December.
This will give people who may wish o retain their accounts and have not used them in over two years, the chance to use the accounts again, which should stop them from being deleted.
To reduce this risk, we are updating our inactivity policy for Google Accounts to 2 years across our products. 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), YouTube and Google Photos.
The policy only applies to personal Google Accounts, and will not affect accounts for organizations like schools or businesses. This update aligns our policy with industry standards around retention and account deletion and also limits the amount of time Google retains your unused personal information.
Google has said that it will delete the accounts in phases, the first phase will be accounts that were created but never used again since they were created. Google is planning to send users multiple notifications letting them know that their accounts will be deleted.
Here is a list of things from Google that you can do to keep your account active:
- Reading or sending an email
- Using Google Drive
- Watching a YouTube video
- Downloading an app on the Google Play Store
- Using Google Search
- Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service
You can find out more details over at Google’s website at the link below, if you have an old account that you have not used in over two years, and you want to keep it, then you will need to use it before December.
Source Google
Image Credit: Firmbee.com
Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals
Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.