Google Is Going To Start Erasing Inactive Accounts This Week

This week, your Google account—which you haven’t used in years—may be deleted. Do you have an old Google account that you would like to use? By the end of the week, you should sign in to prevent it from disappearing. Google announced in May that accounts that haven’t been used for at least two years may be deleted under the company’s revised inactive account policy. Starting on Friday, inactive accounts may be deleted.

Google is proceeding with its plan to remove accounts that have not been used for at least two years starting on Friday.

The new policy was announced by the company in May, stating that its goal was to reduce security risks. According to internal research, older accounts are far more susceptible to problems like phishing, hacking, and spam, because they are more likely to use recycled passwords and are less likely to use modern security features like two-step verification.

Since August, it has been informing impacted users through warnings, with multiple alerts sent to impacted accounts and backup emails provided by users.

When using a phased approach, the accounts that were created initially get cut. Even if you stop using our services, we want to safeguard your personal data and stop any unauthorized access to your account,” the company stated in a policy update from August.

As Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Photos are all part of Google accounts, anything stored in an inactive user’s Google suite could be deleted.

The deletion move has a few exceptions: accounts used to buy digital products like books or movies, those with YouTube channels, those with gift card balances left, and those that have released apps that are available on stores like the Google Play store, the company stated in August.

Unlike an earlier policy, the decision to delete accounts is more comprehensive. The company stated in 2020 that while users’ content would be removed from services they had ceased using, their accounts would remain intact.

Oren Koren, CPO and co-founder of cybersecurity company Veriti asserts that eliminating outdated accounts is essential to maintaining security because these accounts are often seen as low risk, which presents a potential opening for malevolent actors.

Hackers may be forced to create new accounts, which now require phone number verification if old accounts are deleted. Furthermore, the erasure removes older data that might have at some point been compromised in a data breach.

Through the proactive removal of these accounts, the company essentially reduces the attack surface that cybercriminals can exploit,” Koren emailed CNN. “This Google action exemplifies a broader trend in cybersecurity: strengthening overall digital security landscapes through proactive measures.”

How can I stop the deletion of my Google account?

Re-registering for a Google account is the simplest method to keep it active and avoid having it deleted.

All you have to do to save your account is sign in to any Google service or your Google account at least once every two years. You can use this time to read an email, watch a video, or conduct a single search, among other things.