Google is slated to deactivate millions of accounts beginning at the end of this week as a matter of cybersecurity.
The technology giant said it would begin deleting accounts that have been inactive for two years starting on Friday, saying that accounts that are abandoned tend to be more susceptible to spam, phishing schemes, and hacking.
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"If an account hasn't been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised. This is because 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," Google said in a blog post earlier this year.
"Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to have 2-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," the post continued.
In the blog post, the company said it would take a "phased approach" to deactivating accounts by starting with those that "were created and never used again."
Google accounts are used for services outside of Google search, including Gmail, YouTube, Google Docs, Google Meet, and Android phones.
Google said it sent notifications to accounts deemed inactive to their Gmail inbox and recovery emails associated with the affected accounts.
Accounts set up through work, school, or other organizations are exempt from this new policy, but those deemed inactive will have all their data and activity deleted beginning on Friday.
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The company says that accounts can remain active with various simple actions, including reading or sending an email in Gmail, watching a YouTube video while signed into the account in question, searching Google while logged in, downloading an app from the Play Store, or using the account to sign into a third-party service, among other basic tasks.
If users want to see if their account is considered "inactive," Google says they should log into the account before Friday. More information on Google's inactive account policy can be found on its webpage.