A new policy will wipe out data from some Gmail, Google Drive and Docs, Google Photos, Google Calendar and YouTube, the tech giant announced Tuesday.
Google said the decision is intended to help users avoid security risks and will affect personal accounts that have not been active for two years. These inactive accounts are less likely to have two-step authentication and more likely to use old or repeated passwords.
“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,” said Ruth Kricheli, Google’s vice president of product management.
The policy does not include business or school-associated accounts.
Deletions will start in December at the earliest, Google said.
Before deletions begin, several notices will be sent to inactive accounts and to associated recovery emails, the company said.
Accounts that were never used after being created will be removed first, Kricheli said.
To keep an account active, a user can log in to their account directly, or allow third-party websites and apps to login.
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