Google its policy updated on inactive accounts on Tuesday, declaring that any account that has not been active for two years will be deleted. The folks of the internet quickly pushed back: What about old YouTube accounts?
There’s a wealth of internet history in dusty corners of YouTube, not to mention the accounts of users who have since passed away, whose loved ones would probably rather have access to their digital archives. While Google will still remove other old accounts, the YouTube owner has updated its new policy so that it will no longer remove YouTube videos from the platform.
Specifically, Google updated the post to read: “We have no plans to delete accounts with YouTube videos at this time.”
Google’s rationale for introducing this new inactive account policy is to reduce fraud. The company states that these logins are easier to crack.
“Our internal analysis shows that abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to set up 2-Step Verification,” Google wrote in his announcement. “This means 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, such as spam.”
Of course, Google would also save server costs by removing some old uploads. But for content within the Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar) and Google Photos, the deletion process won’t begin until December 2023. The process will be phased, starting with accounts that have been deleted and never used again. So users with old accounts have plenty of time to log in and make sure they can keep their stuff. Google said activity could refer to something as simple as using Google to log into another app. Before deleting an account, Google sends the user multiple notifications, including to the recovery address.
For many internet geeks, it’s a relief that YouTube videos are left untouched, but Google holds so many people’s memories, from Google Drive to Photos, that some digital artifacts will be lost. Meanwhile, on Twitter, owner Elon Musk also recently announced plans to purge dormant accounts. This potentially changing technology company policy serves as a valuable reminder: Back up your meaningful data.
