Google announced that it will permanently delete inactive personal accounts that have not been logged in for two years, including services such as Gmail, Drive, and Photos.
According to Google’s blog, she said that the new policy in deleting inactive accounts comes for security reasons, as old accounts are 10 times less than active accounts in setting up and activating “two-step verification”.
Two-step verification is a way to enhance security by adding an extra layer of verification to the standard login process. Instead of relying solely on a password, 2-Step Verification requires users to provide additional information to verify the login process such as receiving an SMS with a temporary code, or using an app like Authy that does the job. Or by using a secondary device such as a fingerprint.
This means that these accounts are vulnerable to hacking and use for phishing and identity theft.
The new policy will be applied to personal accounts, meaning that accounts linked to institutions or companies are excluded from it. Google will start deleting inactive accounts in December 2023. To avoid deletion, users can log into their accounts and read an email sent to the account, or watch a YouTube video while logged in.
