Google is going to be doing some purging of unused personal accounts in the near future. The company has put anyone who hasn't signed into their account on notice that those accounts could be deleted soon. Any content that's included with those accounts will be gone as well.
In a blog post, Google stated:
Starting later this year, if a Google Account has not been used or signed into for at least 2 years, we may delete the account and its contents – including content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar), YouTube and Google Photos.
The decision to delete accounts is due to security concerns, according to the blog post. It points out that unused accounts could use old passwords that might be compromised by hackers. They also might not have used security features like two-factor authentication or, more recently, the new passkey. Google stated:
Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to have 2-step-verification set up. Meaning, these accounts are often vulnerable, and 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.
The deletions of unused Google accounts will begin in December 2023, starting with accounts that were created but never used. Account users will be sent multiple notifications before any action is taken. This move only applies to personal accounts. Google Workpace accounts for business and education will not be affected.
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