Here's why Google will delete millions of Gmail accounts in December

Users who do not regularly use their Gmail accounts risk losing access to their accounts in December. Millions of Gmail accounts are at risk of being deleted as part of a process that seeks to deactivate accounts that have remained inactive for a minimum of two years.

In May, Ruth Kricheli, vice president of product management at Google, said that starting in December, the company will update its inactivity policy for Google accounts across all its products. If a Google account has not been used or signed into for at least two years, the company may delete it and its contents, including content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar) and Google Photos.

Google has decided to take the step as forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven't had two-factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user, she wrote in the post.

"Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to have two-step verification set up. 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," Kricheli added.

Which accounts are at risk?

The policy will only apply to users who haven't used their Gmail accounts in two years and will not affect accounts for organisations like schools or businesses. If a user has recently signed into his Google account or any of Google's services, his/her account will be considered active and will not be deleted.