Business/TechnologyWorld

Google Announces Deletion of Inactive Gmail Accounts in Major Platform Update

Edited By Agnibeena Ghosh

Google has initiated a warning to its users, stating that it will eliminate millions of dormant Gmail accounts in the upcoming month, marking a significant change to the platform.

This purge will affect all personal Google accounts that have remained inactive for a minimum of two years, leading to the permanent deletion of emails, documents, spreadsheets, calendar schedules, photos, and videos.

Although the policy was introduced earlier this year, it is scheduled to take effect in December 2023.

Ruth Kricheli, Google’s vice president of product management, highlighted in a May blog post, “We are updating our inactivity policy for Google Accounts to two years across our products. 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.”

The primary goal behind this move is to safeguard active Google users from potential security threats, such as phishing scams and account hijacking.

Dormant accounts left untouched for extended periods are vulnerable to hacking risks, as they might use passwords that have been compromised in prior security breaches, easily accessible on the dark web.

Google emphasized that any accounts at risk of deletion would receive “multiple notifications” before any action is taken, including alerts sent to associated recovery email addresses.

The tech giant has already commenced the communication process, notifying affected users that this action aims “to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorized access to your account even if you’re no longer using our services.”

Losing access to a Gmail account could potentially limit individuals from utilizing various online platforms and services associated with that particular email address, regardless of whether they are connected to Google or not.

To maintain an active account status and prevent deletion, Google users are advised to either open or send an email, utilize Google Drive, download an app from the Google Play Store, or conduct a Google Search while logged in to their accounts.

Notably, any account that has posted a video on YouTube will remain unaffected, irrespective of its last active date.

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