Now is the opportune moment to take decisive action should you wish to retain a Google account that has lain dormant for an extended period.
Commencing on December 1, Google is poised to initiate the removal of “inactive” accounts—specifically those that have languished unused for a span of at least two years.
Google accounts furnish entry to the company’s array of other offerings, encompassing Gmail, Drive, Docs, Meet, Calendar, Photos, and YouTube.
This implies that emails, videos, photos, documents, and any other content residing within an inactive account stand on precarious ground.
Preserving Your Account:
To avert the impending deletion, log in to your Google account before the upcoming Friday.
In a recent blog post published in May, the company clarified its policy, stating that if you’ve recently utilized your Google Account or any of our services, your account is considered active and safeguarded against deletion.
Leading up to the deletion procedure, Google assures users of multiple notifications dispatched over the preceding months to both the primary account email address and the recovery email (if provided).
The purging process will unfold incrementally, commencing with accounts that were established but never revisited, as specified by the company.
Exceptions exist: Accounts established through affiliations with work, educational institutions, or other organizations will not face automatic deletion. The policy exclusively targets personal accounts.
Safeguarding Your Account Data:
An additional step becomes imperative if you intend to retain content from a specific product unused for a considerable duration. To preserve photos from your Google Drive, for instance, it is prudent to log in to that particular service.
This is due to the company’s assertion that it “retains the right to erase data in a product if you exhibit inactivity in that product for at least two years. This is adjudicated based on each product’s inactivity policies.”
Under the policy, videos from retired YouTube channels currently enjoy immunity.
“We presently harbor no intentions to erase accounts containing YouTube videos,” the company clarified.
In instances where you wish to archive your content but harbor no further use for your inactive account, data backup becomes an option. The Google Takeout page facilitates the download and export of data. Alternatively, individual downloads of folders, documents, and media are viable.
The passage of two years can elapse swiftly. To preclude unforeseen eventualities, determine the fate of your account and data in the event of inactivity spanning up to 18 months.
The Rationale Behind Google’s Deletion of Inactive Accounts:
Google contends that the deletion of inactive accounts is a security imperative. Abandoned accounts become more susceptible to nefarious threats such as spam, phishing scams, and account hijacking, the company asserted.
“If an account lies dormant for an extended duration, it becomes more susceptible to compromise. This is owing to the fact that forgotten or unattended accounts often hinge on antiquated or recycled passwords that may have been compromised, lack two-factor authentication, and undergo fewer security checks by the user,” expounded the policy update.