Use it or Lose It - Google Set to Delete Unused Accounts

Mindy Cohn

Google announced that it will delete personal accounts that have not been used for two years or more to help avoid security risks.

Unused accounts are more likely to use old or repeated passwords and are also less likely to have two-step authentication enabled, Google explains.

"Meaning, 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," says Ruth Kricheli, Google's vice president of product management, according to NPR.

So far, business and school-associated accounts are safe for now.

Google will send a few notices to inactive accounts and to the recovery emails associated with the accounts to provide fair warning. Deletions will start in December.

All it takes to keep a Google account active is for the user to log in.