The tech behemoth has announced that as of this Friday, December 1, Google will start deleting inactive Gmail, Photos, and Drive accounts.

The purge affects all personal Google accounts that have lain dormant for at least two years and is part of a significant platform update.

Millions of accounts might be permanently erased, and some users have warned that parents who have created accounts to share milestones and memories with their young children might be among those impacted.

In a blog post earlier this year, Google stated that the policy would take effect in December 2023, so the company has already started alerting users who might be affected.

In order to shield current Google users from security risks like phishing scams and account theft, this action was taken.

Hackers may attempt to access accounts that have been inactive for a long time by using passwords that have been compromised in previous security breaches. These passwords can be easily obtained on the dark web.

Google said that "multiple notifications" will be sent to any associated recovery email addresses and to any account that is at risk of deletion before any action is taken.

Users are already receiving emails from the tech giant informing them that this is "to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorized access to your account, even if you're no longer using our services."

In addition, people may not be able to use other websites and services linked to a Gmail account if they lose access to it, even if they have nothing to do with Google.