Tech giant Google has said it will start deleting Gmail, Google Photos and YouTube accounts for good as part of a security measure.
This will apply to accounts that haven't logged into their emails or photos in the past two years. The policy update is looking to prevent any future hacking as a result of inactive accounts, Dublin Live reported.
Google's Vice President Ruth Kricheli said forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven't had two factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user.
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This means these accounts are often "vulnerable."
Once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam," Ms Kricheli explained.
From December this year, if a Google Account has been inactive for two years, Google may delete the account and everything associated with it – including Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar), YouTube and Google Photos.
School and business accounts through Google will not be affected by the policy update.
Account holders will receive multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion, to both the account email address and the recovery email, if it is on record.
The US tech company have defined inactivity as: not reading or sending an email; using Google Drive; watching a YouTube video; downloading an app on the Google Play Store; using Google Search; using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service.
Users with existing subscriptions set up through their Google Account, for example to Google One, a news publication or an app, will also not be impacted.
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