Having multiple Google accounts, whether for personal or business use, can be convenient and practical.
But the days of forgetting about one of those accounts for a long time without consequence are over: Google announced Tuesday it will begin deleting accounts that have remained inactive for two years or more.
Related: Ex-Google Employee Brutally Documents Mass Layoffs | Entrepreneur
The new policy, which is effective immediately — though accounts won’t be deleted until December — aims to reduce security risks. It takes the company’s policy of erasing users’ data from inactive accounts, announced in 2020, up a notch, CNN Business reported.
Users of at-risk accounts will receive multiple warning notifications sent to their account email and recovery email before their deletion. The removal of dormant accounts will also take place in stages; the first accounts to go will be those that were created and never accessed again.
But the policy only extends to personal accounts, not those associated with organizations like businesses or schools.
Related: Here’s How to Stop Third Parties From Reading Your Gmail
According to the company, signing into your Google account at least once every two years is the easiest way to keep it active, and users with existing subscriptions set up through their accounts don’t need to worry either, as that also counts as activity.
This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur
