Google Begins Warning to Delete Inactive Gmail Accounts
Technology company Google has started alerting users about the operation to delete Gmail accounts starting next month.
California: In this operation, Google will permanently delete all such private accounts, including emails, documents, spreadsheets, calendar appointments, images, and videos that have not been in use for at least two years.
This policy was introduced by Google last year and was set to take effect from December 2023.
Ruth Kricheli, Vice President of Product Management at Google, wrote in a blog post last May that the company has been extending the period of inactivity for Google accounts to two years.
Google’s move is aimed at protecting active users from phishing schemes and account hijacking.
Old accounts that have remained unused for years can be an easy target for hackers because their data is easily accessible on the dark web.
According to Google, every account facing the risk of deletion will receive multiple notifications before being deleted. The process of sending notifications to some users has already begun from Google’s end.