In an effort to thwart security concerns, including cyberattacks, Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOGL.O) Google announced on Tuesday that it will deactivate accounts that have been inactive for two years starting in December.
According to the business, accounts, and content across Google Workspace, which includes Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, and Calendar, as well as YouTube and Google Pictures, may be deleted if they have not been used or registered for at least two years.
The change in policy solely affects individual accounts; it does not affect accounts used by corporations or institutions like schools.
Google stated in 2020 that while it would erase the account itself, it would remove any content kept in an inactive account.
Starting Tuesday, the Tech Company will send multiple notifications to the account email address and recovery mail of the inactive accounts before deletion.
Elon Musk announced last week that Twitter would archive accounts that have not been active for a number of years and erase them, stating the move is “essential to free up abandoned handles.”
How Google Started
While pursuing their PhDs at Stanford University in California, computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey Brin started Google on September 4, 1998. Combined, they possess around 14% of their publicly traded shares and, through super-voting stock, 56% of their stockholder voting power. In 2004, the business had its first public offering (IPO).
Google underwent a reorganisation in 2015 and became an Alphabet Inc. wholly owned subsidiary. Google, Alphabet’s largest business, serves as a holding corporation for all of Alphabet’s online assets. On October 24, 2015, Sundar Pichai was named CEO, succeeding Larry Page, who was named CEO of Alphabet. Pichai was appointed CEO of Alphabet on December 3, 2019, as well.