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Google recently announced major changes to its storage policy that would affect its most used services, such as Google Photos, Gmail, and Google Drive. If you missed that news, Google Photos ended its free unlimited storage feature. This means that all new photos and videos uploaded to Google Photos after June 1, 2021 will count towards the 15GB free storage limit that is granted to all users, which applies to Gmail, Drive, and Photos.
Although much of the attention has been on the loss of unlimited photo storage in Google Photos, there is a major change in Google Drive that has been overlooked and users should definitely be aware of it. According to the Google blog post, if you don’t check your Google Drive files regularly, Google may delete all of your data.
Google justified its policy change by explaining that this is its approach to sorting out abandoned digital data left over from long-forgotten accounts. In its blog post, Google said:
We are introducing new policies for consumer Google accounts that are inactive or exceed their storage limit in Gmail, Drive (including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard files) and Photos, so that our policies are more in line with industry standards.
Once the policy takes effect, Google will delete a user’s data when:
- If you are inactive on one or more of these services for two years (24 months), Google may remove the content of the products on which you are inactive.
- Likewise, if you exceed your storage limit for two years, Google can delete your content in Gmail, Drive, and Photos.
At that last point, it’s unclear how Google will determine what data it will delete should you exceed your storage limit. We suspect that Google might prioritize deleting recent files that were added to the account once you exceed the limit.
While that sounds shocking, Google said it has no plans to start deleting your data yet. The search giant added that it will at least notify users multiple times before they attempt to remove any content, to give them ample opportunities to act. Google’s support page explains that it would notify users at least three months before the two-year mark.
The company said it just wanted to inform users well in advance and give them time to navigate the changes that are being made. Therefore, time is running out for users to get all their data sorted on Google Drive.
How to prevent your data from being deleted?
Now, you might be thinking, how can you prevent Google from deleting all your valuable files stored online? On Google’s support page, they said the easiest way to keep data active is to periodically visit Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Drive on the web via an official Google app.
It is worth mentioning that Google said “through an official Google application.” This means that you have been accessing your Gmail through a third-party email application that will not count as being logged into your account. So, make sure to log in through the Gmail, Google Drive, or Google Photos app on any device.
Additionally, Google has a free storage management tool in the Google One app on Android (there is no iOS version of the app) and on the web to help you determine how you are using your Gmail, Drive, and Photos storage. With the tool, Google said users could choose the files they want and delete the ones they no longer need.
Google said that if users need more than 15GB of free storage space, they can choose to upgrade to a larger storage plan with Google One. Users can choose from plans starting at 100GB of space that would include additional features for members, like access to Google experts, shared family plans, and more.
A way to automatically delete data from an inactive account
Interestingly, the ability to delete all account data after a predetermined period of time is a real Google feature. The feature called Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to instruct Google to delete all data after a user sets a period of time (between 3 and 18 months) after the account remains inactive. This feature will not only erase all your data, but it will also cancel the Google account, blocking access and not allowing the username to be reused.
What you think? Does it bother you that Google can delete your data if you don’t actively log into their services? Or maybe you are not satisfied with the amount of storage that Google has limited users. Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
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