1y ago

PSA: Google will be deleting inactive google accounts together with all data on them starting December 1, 2023

support.google.com Inactive Google Account Policy - Google Account Help

A Google Account gives you Google-wide access to most Google products, such as Google Ads, Gmail, and YouTube, using the same username and password. An inactive Google Acco

cross-posted from: https://lemdro.id/post/74867

Inactive Google Account Policy
A Google Account gives you Google-wide access to most Google products, such as Google Ads, Gmail, and YouTube, using the same username and password.
An inactive Google Account is an account that has not been used within a 2-year period. Google reserves the right to delete an inactive Google Account and its activity and data if you are inactive across Google for at least two years.
Google also reserves the right to delete data in a product if you are inactive in that product for at least two years. This is determined based on each product's inactivity policies.
How Google defines activity
A Google Account that is in use is considered active. Activity might include these actions you take when you sign in or while you’re signed in to your Google Account:
Reading or sending an email
Using Google Drive
Watching a YouTube video
Sharing a photo
Downloading an app
Using Google Search
Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service
Google Account activity is demonstrated by account and not by device. You can take actions on any surface where you’re signed in to your Google Account, for example, on your phone.
If you have more than one Google Account set up on your device, you’ll want to make sure each account is used within a 2-year period.
What happens when your Google Account is inactive
When your Google Account has not been used within a 2-year period, your Google Account, that is then deemed inactive, and all of its content and data may be deleted. Before this happens, Google will give you an opportunity to take an action in your account by:
Sending email notifications to your Google Account
Sending notifications to your recovery email, if any exists
Google products reserve the right to delete your data when your account has not been used within that product for a 2-year period.
December 1, 2023 is the earliest a Google Account will be deleted due to this policy.

29 comments

Will that free up email addresses? 🤔
- I've read somewhere that once Gmail address is created, it is not reused - even when account is deleted.
  
  @84615onresu @erre Does Google actually ever "delete" an account? Or do they just make it unavailable to the user? I have a feeling Google can still access a deleted account if necessary for their purposes...JMO.
- I hope so
  
  It would be good in theory, but it's a really bad idea because if that Gmail address is associated to some other sites, then the new owner can basically take control of all the sites the Gmail address was used in.

Oh damn, I probably have a couple accounts that just sit idle but have some info on them. I should get to it.
- It's a good reminder that I should probably consolidate mine. But in doing so, there also won't be as much stopping me from migrating it all over to another service (my Google Workspace also pricing recently increased).
  
  Hmm. This inactivity deletion kind of sucks. Many people may not realise it and get some of their accounts deleted. Also, people tell that you shouldn't be using Google services but what actually are great alternatives to Gmail? I know you can self host an email server, but I would prefer not to.

Reminds me of those orkut/facebook/whatsapp forwards that said
<insert company>
is planning on deleting accounts that don't forward this message. Fun to see that actually happening. 2 years is a very short period of time for deleting.
- There's probably a wave of spam coming soon, that says something like "Google will delete your account for inactivity, unless you log in here (insert bogus site)!"
  With this news out in the world a lot of people will lower their guard, afraid of losing their valuable Google account.
  
  Google is probably positioned pretty well to block those.
  They can defer delivery of suspicious stuff using heuristics, and then review them before delivery.
  It'd be an issue if Google also wasn't the email provider. Like, for many other services, I'd agree.
  
  Enter your phone number to confirm you are not inactive

Exceptions to this policy
A Google Account is considered active even if it has not been used within a 2-year period if one or more of these applies:
Your Google Account has been used to purchase a digital item, for example, a book or movie.
Will a book that is temporarily free upon purchase count?
- This is a good workaround for rarely used accounts. I think it might be well worth grabbing a cheap ebook to effectively hold your account.
  
  Bro, just send an email every two years
  
  Will link the account to your financial information from Google's standpoint. Some people may object to that.
  
  You don't need a device, you can just buy it from the account on any browser via the play store.

Great time to start degoogling
- Got my 10TB NAS stood up, just got encrypted cloud backups working on B2. Next thing to do is set up Nextcloud and I think I'll be good. Also use proton for mail, VPN, and personal cloud storage.

Should be interesting all those users like myself that use Newpipe to access YouTube.
I've got content on my YT account and I've actually watched a video via my Chromecast/Official YT app recently, it's something to be aware of I suppose.

Dang, considering i made a few accounts and then forgot the ID to them... Wouldn't mind tbh.

They can freely delete all of my accounts. I would thank them for the service.

29 comments