Google, the American multinational technology company, has unveiled its intention to permanently delete accounts that have not been used within a specified period.
As disclosed in a recent blog post, Google defines an inactive account as one in which the user has not engaged in any activity or logged in for a period of two years.
Activities deemed by the tech giant to maintain an account’s active status encompass actions like signing in, reading or sending emails, utilizing Google Drive, viewing YouTube content, sharing photos, downloading apps, and conducting searches while logged in.
Starting from December 1, accounts falling within this defined category will face deletion. Notably, this policy exclusively applies to personal accounts and does not impact accounts linked to employers, educational institutions, or other organizations.
According to the post, Google products retain the right to remove data from accounts that remain dormant within a two-year timeframe, with December 1, 2023, marked as the earliest date for potential account deletion under this policy.
Exceptions to this rule include instances where an account was utilized for purchasing items in the Google Play store or holds an active balance from a gift card.
Google assured users of proactive communication regarding this policy by sending emails to the affected accounts and any available recovery email addresses well in advance.