Google will delete accounts which have not been used for two years in an attempt to prevent security issues such as phishing and scams.

Starting from December this year, the company will delete Google accounts which have not been used or signed into for at least two years.

Google said that forgotten or inactive accounts rely on old or re-used passwords which may have been compromised or do not have 2-step-verification enabled. Google claims abandoned accounts such as these are more vulnerable to compromise and can be used for a range of malicious activities including identity theft.

Along with the account, content on related services such as Gmail, Docs, YouTube and Google Photos may also be erased. The new policy will only apply to personal accounts and not those associated with a workplace or school.

Before deleting an account, Google said it will send multiple notifications to users via the account email and the recovery email address. The company said it will take a “phased approach” and start with accounts that were created but never used.

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