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Haven’t checked your old Gmail account in a while? Google could delete it

Google will start deleting accounts that have been inactive for at least two years as part of a new security plan, the company announced Tuesday.

People won’t just lose access to their email, they’ll also lose content stored within Google WorkSpace, including Google Docs and Google Photos. Tuesday’s announcement is just a warning. Google said the earliest the company will start deleting accounts is December.

The change will only impact personal accounts, and will not impact accounts for organizations such as schools or businesses. Google will start by deleting accounts that were created but then never used again, and the company will send multiple notifications in the months leading up to a deletion. The notifications will go both to the Google email and the recovery email, if one exists for the account.

People who don’t want their accounts to be deleted should make sure to sign into inactive accounts. Google also shared some examples of activity for those already signed in, including reading or sending an email, using Google Drive, using Google Search and watching a YouTube video.

The move to delete inactive accounts is a security decision, Google said. Inactive accounts are more likely to be compromised because they’re more likely to use old or re-used passwords. They’re also 10 times less likely than active accounts to have two-step verification set up.

“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,” Google said.

This is among the latest security moves by Google. The company also recently announced it would offer passkeys, which are safer than passwords, as a login option.

Massachusetts court hears arguments in lawsuit alleging Meta designed apps to be addictive to kids

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts' highest court heard oral arguments Friday in the state's lawsuit arguing that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, alleges that Meta did this to make a profit and that its actions affected hundreds of thousands of teenagers in Massachusetts who use the social media platforms. “We are making claims based only on the tools that Meta has developed because its own research shows they encourage addiction to the platform in a variety of ways,” said State Solicitor David Kravitz, adding that the state's claim has nothing to do the company's algorithms or failure to moderate content. Meta said Friday that it strongly disagrees with the allegations and is “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.” Its attorney, Mark Mosier, argued in court that the lawsuit “would impose liabilities for performing traditional publishing functions” and that its actions are protected by the First Amendment.
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