That Google account you haven't accessed in years might be deleted this week.
Google will begin deleting accounts that have been dormant for at least two years starting on Friday.
The new policy was issued by the corporation in May, with the goal of preventing security risks. Internal research indicates that older accounts are more likely to use recycled passwords and are less likely to use modern security methods like two-step verification, leaving them significantly more prone to phishing, hacking, and spam.
Since August, Google has been sending out warnings to vulnerable customers, with numerous notifications issued to impacted accounts and user-provided backup emails.
According to Google, the first accounts to be terminated in a phased manner are those that were established and then never accessed by the user, as stated in May.
"We want to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorized access to your account, even if you're no longer using our services," Google said in an August policy change.
Google accounts contain everything from Gmail to Docs to Drive to Photos, which means that everything in an inactive user's Google Suite is in danger of being erased.
According to Oren Koren, CPO and co-founder of cybersecurity firm Veriti, deleting outdated accounts is a critical step in ensuring security since old accounts are typically perceived as low-risk and so provide an opportunity for malicious actors. Deleting previous accounts may force hackers to create new ones, which now necessitates phone number verification. Furthermore, erasure removes older data that may have been released in a data breach at some point.
To keep your account, simply login to your Google account or any Google service at least once every two years and do anything like read an email, watch a video, or make a single search, among other things.