Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...

To: google account holder
Subject: Updating our Google Account inactivity policy
Date: today

Every day Google works hard to keep you and your private information safe
and secure by preventing unauthorized access to your Google Account with
our built-in security protections. And keeping you safe means having strong
privacy practices across our products that minimize how long we store your
personal files and any data associated with them. We want to protect your
private information and prevent any unauthorized access to your account
even if you're no longer using our services.

Therefore, we are updating the inactivity period for a Google Account to
two years across all our products and services.

This change starts rolling out today and will apply to any Google Account
that's been inactive, meaning it has not been signed into or used within a
two-year period.

An inactive account and any content in it will be eligible for deletion
from December 1, 2023.

What this means for you:

These changes do not impact you unless you have been inactive in your
Google Account for two years or have not used your account to sign in to
any Google service for over two years.
While the changes go into effect today, the earliest we would enforce
any account deletion would be December 2023.
If your account is considered inactive, we will send several reminder
emails to both you and your recovery emails (if any have been provided)
before we take any action or delete any account content. These reminder
emails will go out at least 8 months before any action is taken on your
account.
After a Google Account is deleted, the Gmail address for the deleted
account cannot be used again when creating a new Google Account.

How to keep your account active?

The simplest way to keep a Google Account active is to sign in to the
account at least once every two years. If you have signed in to your Google
Account recently in the past two years, your account is considered active
and will not be deleted.

Other ways to keep your account active include:

Reading or sending an email
Using Google Drive
Watching a YouTube video
Sharing a photo
Downloading an app
Using Google Search
Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service

There are some exceptions to this policy. Examples include: a Google
Account with YouTube channels, videos or comments; an account that has a
gift card with a monetary balance; or an account that has a published
application, for example, one that hosts an app on the Google Play store.
Other exceptions to this policy are available here.

Google also offers tools to help manage your Google Account and provide
options to back up your data, including the ability to download your data
using Google Takeout, and allowing you to plan for what happens to your
data if you're inactive for a specific period of time with the Inactive
Account Manager.

Our priority is to make it as easy as possible for you to keep your account
active, if you want to, and we'll ensure you have adequate notice before
any account is impacted by this change. So before an account is deleted,
Google will send email notifications to the Google Account and its recovery
email (if one has been provided). You should verify that your recovery
email is up to date.

Learn more

Inactive Google Account Policy
How Google retains data we collect
Updating our inactive account policies (only available in English)

Thank you,
The Google Account team

You have received this email to update you about important changes to your
Google Account and services.

(C) 2023 Google LLC 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043

Eric the Red <Eric@TheRed.com> wrote:
> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...
>

Really? You have over a dozen Google accounts?

badgolferman <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote:

>> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...
>>
>
> Really? You have over a dozen Google accounts?

Easily over a dozen.

How many Android phones have you set up?
They give you an account easy when you do that.
No questions asked.

Much easier than it is to set up a new account on Windows for example.
Every time you need to add free 15GB of storage, you get another account.

Over time, you easily have more than a dozen Google accounts.
Each gives you all the perks such as that 15GB free storage per account.

And easy moving of contacts, calendars & apps from one device to the other.

On Wed, 2 Aug 2023 22:28:18 -0000 (UTC), badgolferman
<REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote:

>Eric the Red <Eric@TheRed.com> wrote:
>> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...
>>
>
>Really? You have over a dozen Google accounts?

I'm really a close. I just need 11 more to "have over a dozen Google accounts".

Eric the Red wrote:

> badgolferman <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...
>>
>> Really? You have over a dozen Google accounts?
>
> Easily over a dozen.
>
> How many Android phones have you set up?
> They give you an account easy when you do that.
> No questions asked.

....or... you could just, y'know, reuse your existing account. I have
something like a dozen phones, tablets, etc. associated with my main
account. (I have 3 accounts total: my personal one, my business one, and one
vaguely associated with "Auric__".)

But it's not like they grill you about why you want a new account at any
time. Just go to any Google site and sign up, no new phone required.

> Much easier than it is to set up a new account on Windows for example.
> Every time you need to add free 15GB of storage, you get another account.
>
> Over time, you easily have more than a dozen Google accounts.
> Each gives you all the perks such as that 15GB free storage per account.
>
> And easy moving of contacts, calendars & apps from one device to the
> other.

As far as storage goes, why would I want Google to have another 15GB of my
data, when they already know pretty much everything else about me anyway?
And why would 15GB matter to me when I have ~10TB on my server and another
12TB on my backup machine? 15GB probably wouldn't even hold my entire
desktop right now.

(Yes, I know, offsite backups. I'd prefer a paid service, honestly. F Google
right in the A.)

--
It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose.
That is not weakness. That is life.

On 2023-08-02, Auric__ <not.my.real@email.address> wrote:
> But it's not like they grill you about why you want a new account at any
> time. Just go to any Google site and sign up, no new phone required.

Actually, they do. If you're on VPN especially. But even if you're not on
VPN and you don't want to give them 2FA or a recovery address or phone #,
Google will make it almost impossible unless you start from an Android.

On 2023-08-02 18:13, Eric the Red wrote:
> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...
>
> To: google account holder
> Subject: Updating our Google Account inactivity policy
> Date: today

No need to post the whole thing.

I received the message too. Oddly enough I "re-visited" pretty much
every Google account I have in the last month - including a few I had
forgotten about.

I was surprised that I have 8 accounts. And I know I've deliberately
cancelled at least 2 or 3 others over the past few years.

Anyway, I'll be closing a few of those still active ones too, but do
wonder if there is a forum to sell off really good "handles"?

--
“If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything."
-Ronald Coase

On 2023-08-02 20:11, Incubus wrote:
> On 2023-08-02, Auric__ <not.my.real@email.address> wrote:
>> But it's not like they grill you about why you want a new account at
>> any time. Just go to any Google site and sign up, no new phone required.
>
> Actually, they do. If you're on VPN especially. But even if you're not on
> VPN and you don't want to give them 2FA or a recovery address or phone #,
> Google will make it almost impossible unless you start from an Android.

I can set up an anonymous Google account from my Mac with a VPN (or not)
w/o providing a ph. no. or alternate e-mail.

Haven't done so from an iPhone - I'll try tomorrow.

--
“If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything."
-Ronald Coase

Am 03.08.23 um 00:13 schrieb Eric the Red:
> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...

Seriously?

> To: google account holder
> Subject: Updating our Google Account inactivity policy
> Date: today

In an iPhone-Group?

> (C) 2023 Google LLC 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043

Who cares?

--
Alea iacta est

Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> wrote:
> Am 03.08.23 um 00:13 schrieb Eric the Red:
>> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...
>
> Seriously?

Indeed. I have NO google accounts. Never will again. The one that I
had when I had an Android phone 7 years ago is long gone. Also I have
never willingly used google search. I have used it a couple times on
various things before changing the default to something better.

>> To: google account holder
>> Subject: Updating our Google Account inactivity policy
>> Date: today
>
> In an iPhone-Group?

It’s called trolling.

>> (C) 2023 Google LLC 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043
>
> Who cares?

No one in the iPhone newsgroup, that’s for sure.

On 2023-08-03 02:11, Incubus wrote:
> On 2023-08-02, Auric__ <not.my.real@email.address> wrote:
>> But it's not like they grill you about why you want a new account at
>> any time. Just go to any Google site and sign up, no new phone required.
>
> Actually, they do. If you're on VPN especially. But even if you're not on
> VPN and you don't want to give them 2FA or a recovery address or phone #,
> Google will make it almost impossible unless you start from an Android.

And then they have the phone number, right? :-)

Mmm. What about tablets, do they demand a phone number?

--
Cheers, Carlos.

badgolferman wrote:

> Eric the Red wrote:
>
>> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...
>
> Really? You have over a dozen Google accounts?

I have three ...

the one if first created as a gmail account (rarely used now)

a second one I created purely for my phone, when I wanted to keep it
separate from the first one, google has long worked-out that this
account is associated to the first one, so I only use this one now

a third one setup to use gsuite with my domain, inactive and I'll let
them close this one based on their new inactivity policy.

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> badgolferman wrote:
>
>> Eric the Red wrote:
>>
>>> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...
>>
>> Really? You have over a dozen Google accounts?
>
> I have three ...
>
> the one if first created as a gmail account (rarely used now)
>
> a second one I created purely for my phone, when I wanted to keep it
> separate from the first one, google has long worked-out that this
> account is associated to the first one, so I only use this one now
>
> a third one setup to use gsuite with my domain, inactive and I'll let
> them close this one based on their new inactivity policy.
>
>

I have two. This private one when it was still invitation only around 1999
or so, and a joint family account where all our home and family emails are
sent.

Incubus <u9536612@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2023-08-02, Auric__ <not.my.real@email.address> wrote:
> > But it's not like they grill you about why you want a new account at any
> > time. Just go to any Google site and sign up, no new phone required.
>
> Actually, they do. If you're on VPN especially. But even if you're not on
> VPN and you don't want to give them 2FA or a recovery address or phone #,
> Google will make it almost impossible unless you start from an Android.

(For the non-VPN case:) Urban legend!

Just recently, 'we' (YTIW) tested again (proof posted to one or more
of these groups) that you do *not* need a recovery (email) address, nor
a phone number and 2FA is optional and does *not* neccessarily need a
phone number (other 2FA methods are available).

"Eric the Red" <Eric@TheRed.com> wrote

| Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...
|

This may be hard for you to understand, but the whole
world does not live in Googleville. Google is a private spyware
company, not an Internet protocol.

This group is not for Google, iPhone or Android. If you
care so much about Google then find a venue to discuss it.

Eric the Red <Eric@TheRed.com> posted this via
news:uaekel$a6ci$1@dont-email.me:

> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...
>
> To: google account holder
> Subject: Updating our Google Account inactivity policy
> Date: today
>
> Every day Google works hard to keep you and your private information
> safe and secure by preventing unauthorized access to your Google Account
> with our built-in security protections. And keeping you safe means
> having strong privacy practices across our products that minimize how
> long we store your personal files and any data associated with them. We
> want to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorized
> access to your account even if you're no longer using our services.
>
> Therefore, we are updating the inactivity period for a Google Account to
> two years across all our products and services.
>
> This change starts rolling out today and will apply to any Google
> Account that's been inactive, meaning it has not been signed into or
> used within a two-year period.
>
> An inactive account and any content in it will be eligible for deletion
> from December 1, 2023.
>
> What this means for you:
>
> These changes do not impact you unless you have been inactive in
> your
> Google Account for two years or have not used your account to sign in to
> any Google service for over two years.
> While the changes go into effect today, the earliest we would
> enforce
> any account deletion would be December 2023.
> If your account is considered inactive, we will send several
> reminder
> emails to both you and your recovery emails (if any have been provided)
> before we take any action or delete any account content. These reminder
> emails will go out at least 8 months before any action is taken on your
> account.
> After a Google Account is deleted, the Gmail address for the deleted
> account cannot be used again when creating a new Google Account.
>
> How to keep your account active?
>
> The simplest way to keep a Google Account active is to sign in to the
> account at least once every two years. If you have signed in to your
> Google Account recently in the past two years, your account is
> considered active and will not be deleted.
>
> Other ways to keep your account active include:
>
> Reading or sending an email
> Using Google Drive
> Watching a YouTube video
> Sharing a photo
> Downloading an app
> Using Google Search
> Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service
>
> There are some exceptions to this policy. Examples include: a Google
> Account with YouTube channels, videos or comments; an account that has a
> gift card with a monetary balance; or an account that has a published
> application, for example, one that hosts an app on the Google Play
> store. Other exceptions to this policy are available here.
>
> Google also offers tools to help manage your Google Account and provide
> options to back up your data, including the ability to download your
> data using Google Takeout, and allowing you to plan for what happens to
> your data if you're inactive for a specific period of time with the
> Inactive Account Manager.
>
> Our priority is to make it as easy as possible for you to keep your
> account active, if you want to, and we'll ensure you have adequate
> notice before any account is impacted by this change. So before an
> account is deleted, Google will send email notifications to the Google
> Account and its recovery email (if one has been provided). You should
> verify that your recovery email is up to date.
>
> Learn more
>
> Inactive Google Account Policy
> How Google retains data we collect
> Updating our inactive account policies (only available in English)
>
> Thank you,
> The Google Account team
>
> You have received this email to update you about important changes to
> your Google Account and services.
>
> (C) 2023 Google LLC 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043

I have a few Gmail accounts so when I got the memo, I went via the web
interface to make sure all the latent accounts would have some activity
logged. Most were loaded with SPAM, so that was an affirmative action the
Gmail servers could log when I cleared all the junk.

Two (2) interesting things are happening with the Google behemoth:

1) After I would sign out of one account, I would close the browser, then
clear all my cookies and caches before signing into the next account. Even
with the clean-up effort, Gmail still recognized [my device, I presume] and
started linking the accounts together; such that, next time I signed out,
closed out the browser, cleared the caches, then attempted to sign in to
the next account, the sign in page would list the previous accounts, now
linked, and give me an option into which to login, or to "add another
account."

Seemingly randomly, as I progressed through each account, I was required to
execute Captchas and/or retrieve a validation code prior to proceeding.

M'eh... Got 'er done.

2) One of my flagship accounts, not frequently used, required a validation
code be sent to me via an old mobile phone number - which I had long ago
changed to my current number.

A. Sign in: *********@gmail.com
B. Must execute Captcha process
C. Password: enter password
D. Interface demands verification via old cell phone
E. "Can't sign you in" > "... doesn't have enough information
to be sure this account is yours."
F. "Learn more about recovery information [link]"

REFERENCE: https://support.google.com/mail/thread/3898219

EVERYTHING is a loopback to the fact that I changed cell phone numbers...

I even got a return email from Gmail support, but it simply pointed me at
the above link then stated that "some accounts will be unrecoverable..."
then invites you simply open a new account.

You MUST sign in to your disabled account in order to change the recovery
number and Gmail won't allow you to sign in without sending a verification
code to the old recovery number... Additionally, the system will not allow
you reestablish or reopen the disabled account using a different password,
recovery number, etc.

Sucks for me, but if it's happening to me, you can bet it's happening to
thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of other users. Seems like a
terrible waste of server space to keep all those damaged accounts on file,
especially when they have gone to extraordinary efforts to tie all your
Gmail accounts together, which SHOULD serve to verify each other. D'uh.

As they say "Welcome to the d-d-d-di-di-di-dig-dig-digi-digit-digita-
digita-digital age."

--

I AM Bucky Breeder, (*(^;

And *NO*, that is *NOT* a Jedi Light Saber I have in my pocket!

But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm happy to see you either.

On 2023-08-03 08:06, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> Incubus <u9536612@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 2023-08-02, Auric__ <not.my.real@email.address> wrote:
>>> But it's not like they grill you about why you want a new account at any
>>> time. Just go to any Google site and sign up, no new phone required.
>>
>> Actually, they do. If you're on VPN especially. But even if you're not on
>> VPN and you don't want to give them 2FA or a recovery address or phone #,
>> Google will make it almost impossible unless you start from an Android.
>
> (For the non-VPN case:) Urban legend!
>
> Just recently, 'we' (YTIW) tested again (proof posted to one or more
> of these groups) that you do *not* need a recovery (email) address, nor
> a phone number and 2FA is optional and does *not* neccessarily need a
> phone number (other 2FA methods are available).

HOW DARE YOU POST THE FACTS!

--
“If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything."
-Ronald Coase

On 2023-08-03 14:06, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> Incubus <u9536612@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 2023-08-02, Auric__ <not.my.real@email.address> wrote:
>>> But it's not like they grill you about why you want a new account at any
>>> time. Just go to any Google site and sign up, no new phone required.
>>
>> Actually, they do. If you're on VPN especially. But even if you're not on
>> VPN and you don't want to give them 2FA or a recovery address or phone #,
>> Google will make it almost impossible unless you start from an Android.
>
> (For the non-VPN case:) Urban legend!
>
> Just recently, 'we' (YTIW) tested again (proof posted to one or more
> of these groups) that you do *not* need a recovery (email) address, nor
> a phone number and 2FA is optional and does *not* neccessarily need a
> phone number (other 2FA methods are available).

The last time I had to create an account, which was on 2021-11-24, they
would not allow me to continue without a phone number and birthdate.

I'm told that later they relaxed the requirements.

Oh, I did start the setup on an an ancient Android tablet, but the
application could not continue, nor could it be updated till I had an
account.

I used that tablet as kitchen wall clock for some two years till the
display started to die.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 2023-08-03 16:22, Bucky Breeder wrote:
> Eric the Red <Eric@TheRed.com> posted this via
> news:uaekel$a6ci$1@dont-email.me:
>
>> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...

....

> I have a few Gmail accounts so when I got the memo, I went via the web
> interface to make sure all the latent accounts would have some activity
> logged. Most were loaded with SPAM, so that was an affirmative action the
> Gmail servers could log when I cleared all the junk.
>
> Two (2) interesting things are happening with the Google behemoth:
>
> 1) After I would sign out of one account, I would close the browser, then
> clear all my cookies and caches before signing into the next account. Even
> with the clean-up effort, Gmail still recognized [my device, I presume] and
> started linking the accounts together; such that, next time I signed out,
> closed out the browser, cleared the caches, then attempted to sign in to
> the next account, the sign in page would list the previous accounts, now
> linked, and give me an option into which to login, or to "add another
> account."

You have to log out. Deleting cookies is not necessary.

Alternatively, you can login to each with a different Firefox profile -
in Linux:

firefox --ProfileManager &

so that Google considers them different devices. You can thus be
simultaneously logged to several gmail accounts.

> Seemingly randomly, as I progressed through each account, I was required to
> execute Captchas and/or retrieve a validation code prior to proceeding.
>
> M'eh... Got 'er done.
>
> 2) One of my flagship accounts, not frequently used, required a validation
> code be sent to me via an old mobile phone number - which I had long ago
> changed to my current number.
>
> A. Sign in: *********@gmail.com
> B. Must execute Captcha process
> C. Password: enter password
> D. Interface demands verification via old cell phone
> E. "Can't sign you in" > "... doesn't have enough information
> to be sure this account is yours."
> F. "Learn more about recovery information [link]"
>
> REFERENCE: https://support.google.com/mail/thread/3898219
>
> EVERYTHING is a loopback to the fact that I changed cell phone numbers...
>
> I even got a return email from Gmail support, but it simply pointed me at
> the above link then stated that "some accounts will be unrecoverable..."
> then invites you simply open a new account.
>
> You MUST sign in to your disabled account in order to change the recovery
> number and Gmail won't allow you to sign in without sending a verification
> code to the old recovery number... Additionally, the system will not allow
> you reestablish or reopen the disabled account using a different password,
> recovery number, etc.

Which is a reason to have several different recovery options with them,
like an alternate email, and try to keep the information current.

>
> Sucks for me, but if it's happening to me, you can bet it's happening to
> thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of other users. Seems like a
> terrible waste of server space to keep all those damaged accounts on file,
> especially when they have gone to extraordinary efforts to tie all your
> Gmail accounts together, which SHOULD serve to verify each other. D'uh.
>
> As they say "Welcome to the d-d-d-di-di-di-dig-dig-digi-digit-digita-
> digita-digital age."
>

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 8/2/23 22:15, Bob Campbell wrote:
> Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> wrote:
>> Am 03.08.23 um 00:13 schrieb Eric the Red:
>>> Most of us have over a dozen google accounts so this may impact you...
>>
>> Seriously?
>
> Indeed. I have NO google accounts. Never will again. The one that I
> had when I had an Android phone 7 years ago is long gone. Also I have
> never willingly used google search.

Even if you did, why would you login?

> I have used it a couple times on
> various things before changing the default to something better.

[snip]

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"That the saints may enjoy their beatitude and the grace of God more
abundantly they are permitted to see the punishment of the damned in
hell." [Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Summa Theologica]

On Wed, 2 Aug 2023 20:21:41 -0400, Alan Browne wrote:

> Anyway, I'll be closing a few of those still active ones too, but do
> wonder if there is a forum to sell off really good "handles"?

Didn't the message say the old inactive handles will never be re-used?

On 8/3/2023 12:47 PM, Mark Lloyd wrote:
>> Indeed. I have NO google accounts. Never will again. The one that I
>> had when I had an Android phone 7 years ago is long gone. Also I have
>> never willingly used google search.
>
> Even if you did, why would you login?

The guy you're responding to is so dumb he has never searched the Internet?
And then, he's so dumb that he thinks a search requires him to login first?
Who is that stupid?

Even searching archived newsgroups doesn't require a google login to run.
http://groups.google.com/g/misc.phone.mobile.iphone
http://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android
http://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows

On 2023-08-03 13:17, Oscar Mayer wrote:
> On Wed, 2 Aug 2023 20:21:41 -0400, Alan Browne wrote:
>
>> Anyway, I'll be closing a few of those still active ones too, but do
>> wonder if there is a forum to sell off really good "handles"?
>
> Didn't the message say the old inactive handles will never be re-used?

I haven't closed anything of late. And by the above, closing some
doesn't mean I'm closing the nicer handles.

--
“If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything."
-Ronald Coase

Alan Browne <bitbucket@blackhole.com> wrote:
> On 2023-08-03 08:06, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> > Incubus <u9536612@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> On 2023-08-02, Auric__ <not.my.real@email.address> wrote:
> >>> But it's not like they grill you about why you want a new account at any
> >>> time. Just go to any Google site and sign up, no new phone required.
> >>
> >> Actually, they do. If you're on VPN especially. But even if you're not on
> >> VPN and you don't want to give them 2FA or a recovery address or phone #,
> >> Google will make it almost impossible unless you start from an Android.
> >
> > (For the non-VPN case:) Urban legend!
> >
> > Just recently, 'we' (YTIW) tested again (proof posted to one or more
> > of these groups) that you do *not* need a recovery (email) address, nor
> > a phone number and 2FA is optional and does *not* neccessarily need a
> > phone number (other 2FA methods are available).
>
> HOW DARE YOU POST THE FACTS!

Well, even the best slip up once in a while. Anyway, I'm Dutch, so
kind of dumb and not up to speed with them there rules.

On 2023-08-03 19:26, Lord Vader wrote:
> On 8/3/2023 12:47 PM, Mark Lloyd wrote:
>>> Indeed. I have NO google accounts. Never will again. The one that I
>>> had when I had an Android phone 7 years ago is long gone. Also I have
>>> never willingly used google search.
>>
>> Even if you did, why would you login?
>
> The guy you're responding to is so dumb he has never searched the Internet?
> And then, he's so dumb that he thinks a search requires him to login first?
> Who is that stupid?

Millions of people use google search while logged in.

--
Cheers, Carlos.