Google, which maintains billions of user accounts, announced on Tuesday that it aims to remove accounts that are inactive after two years. According to the firm, the decision is part of the internet giant’s ongoing efforts to tighten security safeguards for its huge user base.
Beginning in December of this year, Google may erase an account if it has not accessed any of its various services for two years, according to a blog post by the corporation. Google will delete the user’s content from Google Workspace, YouTube, and Google Photos as part of the account deletion.
Google said it will send “multiple notifications” in the months leading up to an account’s termination and will begin the purge with those that were created and never used again. According to Google, the new inactivity policy would not affect corporate or educational accounts.
The requirements for keeping an active account are pretty simple. Reading or sending an email, using Google Drive, watching a YouTube video, installing an app from the Google Play Store, checking in to a third-party app or service with a Google account, or executing a Google search while signed in are all enough to keep an account active.
Google stated it is taking this measure to address security issues raised by dormant accounts. “According to our internal analysis, abandoned accounts are at least 10 times less likely than active accounts to have 2-step verification enabled.” “This means that these accounts are frequently vulnerable, and once compromised, they can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, such as spam,” the business noted in a blog post.
Google has not stated what it intends to do with the usernames once the dormant accounts have been deleted. The action comes after Twitter CEO Elon Musk recently announced intentions to remove defunct accounts and recycle usernames.
