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| Gmail and Photos |
There are a staggering 1.8 billion Gmail active users, according to the latest statistics. Regarding Google Photos, there are an estimated 2 billion active users. Google has recently warned that starting in December, inactive accounts will be purged on security grounds. But how does Google define an inactive account, and how can you prevent emails, photos, and other content from being deleted?
Although billions of people use Google services such as Gmail and Google Photos, the percentage reading Google’s safety and security blogs will be insanely small. I read them because it’s my job, and even then, I occasionally miss something important. Such was the case with an update to inactive account policies in May when I took some time off work for health reasons. Yet this seemingly innocuous update contains a vital warning for Google users about a cross-service content purge. Google has also sent emails concerning the forthcoming account purging, but these were also missed by me and, I’m going to therefore assume, others. Hence the need for this reminder.
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In the short policy update posting, Ruth Kricheli, a vice president of product management at Google, warned that users of inactive personal Google accounts could see those accounts, and their content stored within Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar, and Google Photos, deleted in a purge starting from December 2023.
Google’s inactive policy for accounts, Kricheli stated, now applies to those that have not been used or signed into “for at least two years” across all products.
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Which Google accounts will be deleted in December?
Kricheli was at pains to point out that the account and content deletion process, which starts in December, will be rolled out “slowly and carefully, with plenty of notice.” So, for example, we know that the first accounts to be targeted will be those created but never actually used again.
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Moving forward, users will be made well aware of the intention to delete accounts and Gmail and Google Photos content along with them. “We will send multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion,” Kricheli said, “to both the account email address and the recovery email if one has been provided.”
