Google to delete millions of abandoned Gmail accounts

Google will start deleting long-unused Gmail accounts next month, but before doing so, the company will send warnings to the owners of these accounts.

According to IndiaToday, Google issued a warning about this new policy about six months ago and stated that no action would be taken until December. This measure will not affect those actively using the company’s services such as Gmail, Documents, Calendar, or Photos. Accounts that have not been used for at least two years or have not been logged into will be deleted. At the same time, all data related to the services will also be erased.

Accounts that have been inactive for 2 years will be on Google’s deletion list

At that time, Google stated, “Before deleting an account, we will send multiple notifications to both the account’s email address and the alternate email address (if any) several months in advance.”

The company added that they chose this measure for security reasons because old and inactive accounts are more likely to become targets for fraudsters. Google explained, “If an account is not used for an extended period, it is more likely to be compromised. This is because accounts that are forgotten or not monitored often have old or reused passwords and can be vulnerable to compromise.”

According to Google’s own estimates, abandoned accounts are less likely to have two-factor authentication enabled at least 10 times compared to active accounts. Two-factor authentication makes it more difficult for attackers to access someone else’s account, and Google consistently emphasizes this in its security recommendations.

@Thanhnien.vn