Google will delete accounts that have been inactive for two years or more starting in December; See how it will work

This procedure applies only to personal accounts. (photo: clone)

Google announced, on Tuesday, that it will delete, starting in December, all accounts that have remained inactive for two years or more, in an effort to prevent security threats, including hacking.

According to the company, the deletion will affect Gmail and other workspace services like Docs, Drive, Meet, and Calendar, as well as YouTube and Google Photos.

Google also said that the new policy will only apply to personal accounts and will not affect accounts from organizations such as schools or businesses, or with a Google One subscription.

The search giant, which is controlled by Alphabet, says the measure aims to “increase internet security”. That’s because abandoned accounts, according to the company, are vulnerable and “can be used by malicious actors for a variety of actions, from identity theft to spreading spam.”

In 2020, Google said it would remove content stored in an inactive account, but not the account itself.

According to Reuters, prior to the deletion, notifications will be sent, starting Tuesday, to both the account email address and recovery email for inactive accounts, if provided.

Last week, billionaire Elon Musk said Twitter would also remove and archive accounts that have been dormant for several years, saying the move was “important to free abandoned accounts.”

instagram vs twitter

Instagram plans to launch a text app to compete with Twitter. According to sources, the company controlled by Meta is testing the project with celebrities and influencers. Instagram has been in discussions with content creators for months, although none of them have had access to the full version of the app yet. See what is known so far:

– The new platform is scheduled to be launched in June this year;
– The application will have a central feed, with recommended content and visualization of followers;
– In addition to videos and photos, the user can post texts of 500 characters (smaller than the caption on Instagram);
– The platform will be separate from Instagram, but will allow people to link their accounts;
– Security features that are enabled on Instagram will sync with the new platform. Example: If a user blocks someone on IG or restricts a word, it will also be blocked in the new app;
– The app may be compatible with other Twitter competitors, including Mastodon.

The information about the new app was posted by Lia Haberman, a professor who studies social and influencer marketing at the University of California (UCLA). Leah posted the news on her personal Twitter page. Bloomberg reached out to Instagram, but the company did not respond to a request for comment until this story was last updated.

Based on a (somewhat confusing) example I got, the new Meta app looks a lot like Twitter. Could it contain all the screens we’ve been seeing on the Twitter feed lately? Maybe. It’s impossible to predict how the audience will respond but this might be a substitute.

The chaotic takeover of Twitter by billionaire Elon Musk has some users looking for alternatives to the app. This movement has created an opening in the market for the development and deployment of new text-centric applications.

“Historically, we know that Meta (which owns Instagram) likes to experiment and recreate features from other apps and third-party tools based on what they expect will be popular with their users,” Habermann said.

Mumbai-based news site Moneycontrol.com reported that in March Meta was exploring projects for a text-based app, whose internal project name is “P92”. Other outlets reported that the codename was “Barcelona”.