SAN JOSE: Google has for some time been deleting inactive accounts – or at least threatening to do so – meaning anyone who has not logged into their Gmail or other Google account for an extended period should sign in again to avoid losing it and having their email address released for general registration.
Anyone who has not logged in for two years risks having their account deleted, Google says. Before that happens, users should have received several email warnings from Google.
Google says forgotten accounts are far more likely to be hacked, since they won't have two-step verification, an extra layer of security that helps protect accounts from unauthorised access.
"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," Google says.
Logging in occasionally is the simplest safeguard against losing an account. A recurring calendar reminder can help ensure such tasks are not forgotten, particularly for accounts that are no longer used regularly but which you want to keep.
Two years is not a universal threshold, but it is not an unusual one either. Microsoft accounts can also be deleted after the same period of inactivity.
The timeframe can, however, be significantly shorter or longer depending on the service. X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, requires users to log in at least once every 30 days.
Sony, meanwhile, reserves the right to delete PlayStation Network accounts after three years of inactivity, though it also sends reminder emails.
To what degree every service enforces its own inactivity rules and ultimately follows through with deletion is unclear. But it is a risk few will want to take.
The safest approach is to log in occasionally and to check each service's policy on inactivity – usually found in the help or support section of the service's website. Alternatively, you can delete an unused account to avoid the risk of it being compromised by scammers. – dpa
