Google says it may start to delete accounts that have not been accessed for at least two years by Dec. 1, 2023.
The policy will apply to accounts for all of its products, including YouTube and Gmail. The company justified the move as a security measure, to prevent breaches of the old accounts.
“Keeping you safe means having strong privacy practices across our products that minimize how long we store your personal files and any data associated with them,” Google said in a recent message to Gmail account holders.
“We want to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorized access to your account even if you’re no longer using our services.”
In order to avoid an account deletion, Google says all you have to do is sign into the account and it will no longer be considered inactive. Just remember to sign into it again within two years so it won’t be deleted.
Google said it will send several reminder emails if you have an account eligible for deletion. After the account is deleted, the Gmail address cannot be used again when creating a new account.
There are some exceptions to the policy, though. If your account has YouTube channels, videos or comments, or a gift card balance, or hosts an app on the Google Play store, it won’t be deleted.
Lisa Plaggemier, the executive director at the National Cybersecurity Alliance based in Austin, Texas, told Global News in April that it is best practice to delete old data and accounts to strengthen your cybersecurity.
“The more data you have, the more you have to work to protect it,” she said. “It’s usually good practice not to hang on to anything more than what you absolutely need.”
She said sometimes old accounts that haven’t been logged into in a while may be hacked and you may not even know it.