Google has commenced its plan to delete inactive Gmail accounts, sending warning messages to those that may be affected.
Toward the end of 2023, the company revealed that it would be deleting Gmail accounts that hadn't been used in more than two years.
For an account to be considered inactive, users must not have been logged into it via any of Google's services like Gmail or Google Photos.
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VP of Product Management at Google Ruth Kricheli explained last year: "If an account hasn't been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised."
She went on to explain that these measures are necessary to 'protect our users from security threats like spam, phishing scams, and account hijacking.'
Internal analysis by Google found that old accounts are far more likely to be compromised due to having out-of-date or re-used passwords and are ten times less likely to have two-factor authentication set up.
"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," Kricheli noted.
Google is sending warning emails to users before the deletion of their accounts takes place.
A reporter for Forbes, Davey Winder, shared that he received a warning message in January this year that a Google account he had not used in eight months was going to be deleted on September 20 if he didn't take action.
While Google and Gmail have been asking users to check old accounts to see if they received a similar warning, they should not be a huge cause for concern if you want to keep your account as there are three simple steps you can take to keep it active.
The first is to read or send an email on the account to give Gmail a flag that you're still there and using it. So go ahead and type up some random email to one of your friends.
The second is to share a photo or watch a YouTube video while signed into the Google account you want to keep.
The third is to use Google Drive or Google Search while signed onto the account. Basically, any little thing to show that this account is still being used by you for Google products.
Per Forbes, doing any of these three steps at least once a year should be able to ensure that your account is safe from being deleted.
Topics: Google, Technology
Yasmeen Hamadeh