ALBAWABA - Google updated its policy regarding inactive accounts and announced the deletion of any account that has not been used for at least two years, according to an announcement on its official website.
Google will delete personal accounts that have not been logged into for two years or more, along with all associated information and stored files on the company's servers. This includes the deletion of Gmail emails and stored messages, rendering them inaccessible.
Additionally, uploaded photos in the Google Photos service, files in Google Drive cloud storage, and backups will also be erased.
Currently, the company has no plans to delete old inactive accounts that have uploaded videos on YouTube to prevent unintentional removal of content.
Google will commence the process of deleting inactive accounts by the end of the current year, starting with unused accounts. The deletion process will occur gradually and will only apply to free accounts, while accounts managed by businesses or schools will not be deleted.
According to the company's official website, certain activities keep an account active, such as logging in and performing essential tasks like reading or sending emails, using Google Drive, watching videos on YouTube, downloading apps from Google Play, or using the account to log in to external services or applications not affiliated with Google.
Google will send multiple notifications to the accounts scheduled for deletion, as well as to the associated recovery accounts, several months prior to deletion.
Google states that this step is primarily taken for security reasons, as inactive accounts are more vulnerable from a security standpoint. Inactive accounts are less likely to have two-step verification enabled, making them more susceptible to breaches compared to active accounts.
