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Big news from Google! They've changed their rules for accounts that people don't use. If you haven't used your Google account for two years, they're going to delete it in December 2023. This includes all your stuff like emails, documents, photos, and more.
But don't worry if you use Google for work. This rule only applies to personal accounts, not accounts for businesses or organizations. Google says it's doing this to keep things safe. If you don't use your account for a long time, it could get hacked, and they want to prevent that. So, if you haven't logged in for a while, it's time to do it before December 2023 to keep your stuff safe!
Google explained that when people forget about or don't use their accounts for a long time, they often have old or used passwords that might not be safe. They might not have set up two-factor authentication, and the users don't check their security settings as much. Ruth Kricheli, the VP of Product Management at Google, mentioned in a blog post that their analysis found abandoned accounts are at least 10 times less likely to have two-step verification set up compared to active accounts. This makes it easier for bad actors to compromise these accounts. So, it's a good idea to keep your account active and secure by using strong passwords and enabling two-factor authentication!
Google plans to delete accounts that were created but never used, and they'll do it in phases. They'll send several notifications before the deletion, to both the unused account and the recovery email if you provided one.
To prevent your Gmail account from being deleted, just sign in once every two years. If you've logged into your Google Account or any other service using the same account, it will be considered active and won't be deleted. It's that simple! Keep your account safe and active.
