Google has said it will start deleting inactive accounts that have remained unused for two years from December 2023, as the company aims to prevent security threats such as spam, phishing scams and account hijacking.
The Alphabet-owned company said forgotten or unattended accounts are usually more vulnerable to cyber attacks as they often use old or reused passwords and have not had two-factor authentication set up.
To minimise this risk, Google is updating its inactivity policy for accounts to two years across its products.
From December, if a Google account has not been used or signed into for two years, the company will delete the account and its contents. These include content within Workspace (Gmail, docs, drive, meet and calendar), YouTube and Google Photos.
The company’s internal analysis showed that inactive accounts are at least 10 times less likely to have two-step-verification 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,” Ruth Kricheli, vice president of product management at Google, said.
After the announcements, Alphabet's shares were up almost 3 per cent, trading at $119.96 a share on Tuesday.
The new inactivity policy will only apply to personal Google accounts and will not affect business accounts such as schools or organisations.
“This update aligns our policy with industry standards around retention and account deletion and also limits the amount of time Google retains your unused personal information,” Ms Kricheli said.
The company said it will carry out the exercise in a phased manner and will send sufficient notices to account holders before deleting their accounts.
Usually, Google look at several signals to understand whether users are still using their Google account. These include their last sign-ins, recent activity in my activity, usage of Gmail (for example, the Gmail app on the phone), and Android check-ins.
How to keep your account active
“The simplest way to keep a Google account active is to sign-in at least once every two years. If you have signed into your Google Account or any of our services recently, your account is considered active and will not be deleted,” Ms Kricheli said.
Activity might include reading or sending an email, using Google drive, watching a YouTube video, downloading an app on the Google Play store, using Google search and using sign-in with Google to access a third-party app or service.
How will Google delete inactive accounts?
Google will start deleting accounts from December.
First it will delete accounts that were created but never used again.
The company said it will send multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion, to both the account email address and the recovery email.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
More on animal trafficking
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.