GOOGLE will begin a mass-cull of accounts in just four days – but there’s still time to save yours.
The tech giant is preparing to delete millions of photos, files and emails as part of a global purge.
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It’s part of a push to improve the safety of users, according to Google.
Billions of Google accounts have been created over the years.
They provide access to (or extra features for) beloved services like Gmail, YouTube, Search, and Google Drive.
Many of these accounts have become inactive over the years – and some were hardly active in the first place.
This is a huge problem for security, Google warns.
The company argues that these old, inactive accounts could be hacked by criminals and used for illicit activities.
Now Google is preparing to delete all accounts that haven’t been used – or signed in to – for at least two years.
Once the account is deleted, it will be gone forever – along with any content that was saved to it.
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Any photos stored in your Google Drive or Photos apps will be gone.
Emails in Gmail will disappear, and your Google Calendar events will be wiped from the face of the Earth.
Google’s new rules
Google’s updated policy already includes the details about deleting inactive accounts.
However, the purge was scheduled for December 1, 2023 so people would have enough time to save their accounts.
Google says that the profile cull should help keep users safe in the long run.
“If an account hasn’t been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised,” Google said.
“This is because 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.”
Accounts that have been abandoned are 10 times less likely to have two-factor authentication, Google warned.
Hackers could steal these “vulnerable” accounts and sue them for identity theft or spam campaigns.
Google is expected to begin deleting accounts from December 1 – but not all profiles will be culled right away.
The search engine giant is expected to take a “phased approach” by starting with accounts that were created and never used again.
You’ll receive a warning before your account is due to be scrubbed.
“Before deleting an account, we will send multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion, to both the account email address and the recovery email (if one has been provided),” Google said.
Save your Google account
Broadly, there are two ways to save an account: sign in, or use your profile.
“The simplest way to keep a Google Account active is to sign-in at least once every 2 years,” Google said.
“If you have signed into your Google Account or any of our services recently, your account is considered active and will not be deleted.”
Alternatively you can sustain your account by:
- Reading or sending an email
- Using Google Drive
- Watching a YouTube video
- Downloading a Google Play Store app
- Using Google Search
- Using Sign In With Google for a third-party app or service
And the eighth way to save your account is simply to have an active subscription on it, like Google One.
Your account will also be protected if it has any YouTube videos uploaded.
