With plans to remove dormant accounts by December 1, Google is preparing for a massive clean-up. Before it's too late, everyone needs to protect the info in your old Gmail and photos.

There are issues concerning the whereabouts of emails, pictures, and documents in inactive accounts that surface as the deadline approaches.

Thankfully, the majority of Google's 2 billion Photos and 1.8 billion Gmail users regularly utilize their accounts, protecting data from the upcoming removals.

However, there's a chance of losing messages and photos saved for the unidentified number of inactive accounts, which may affect millions.

There could be material wipes on 18 million Gmail and 20 million Google Photos accounts, even if only 1% of users are idle. Everyone must take immediate action to protect their digital memories before disappearing into cyberspace.

(Photo : Unsplash/ Pawel Czerwinski )

The Reason Behind the Clean-Up

Google's goal of improving security is the main reason for the deletion of the old account.

Google vice president of product management, Ruth Kricheli, claims that inactive accounts present greater security threats. Due to the absence of contemporary security features like two-factor authentication (2FA), these dormant accounts are more vulnerable to hacks.

According to Google internal data, accounts that are not in use are "10x less likely" than those that are to use two-factor authentication.

When logging into an inactive account, it is recommended that you complete the Google Account Security Checkup in order to strengthen its security. Even though hijacked Google accounts are fewer opportunities for threat actors, they nevertheless pose a serious security risk.

In addition to some security concerns, this policy change may also be a big reason for the cost of storing inactive data. There could be more hidden reasons behind this move besides security concerns, including the expense of storing unused data and also some of the more significant threats on the internet, especially in emails.

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How to Preserve Your Google Account

This is how you can easily keep up with your Google accounts. All you have to do to preserve your account is log in once every two years.

Activities include a number of tasks, such as sending emails, utilizing Google Drive, watching YouTube, downloading from the Play Store, searching, and using Google for third-party logins, and for this, your account will be recognized as active.

Account activity also includes setting up subscriptions using your Google account, such as news, apps, or Google One.

It's crucial to remember that business and educational accounts are exempt from this account regulation; it only applies to personal Google accounts.

The recent Google policy change has led to chat backup issues among Android users of WhatsApp.

As of 2024, WhatsApp Backup will be used by Google Drive.

This modification can adversely affect extensive conversation archives, forcing people to purchase additional Google One storage to avoid problems. Unlike the case with Google Drive storage, which previously mainly focused on Gmail and Google Photos, the size of WhatsApp backup will also be calculated based on the current storage limits.

To prevent the subscription storage requirement, customers with large chats should have their media separated from unnecessary files sorted out and organized.

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