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An update to storage policies across your Google Account

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Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#171
post #4

> "If you're over your storage limit for two years, Google may delete your content across Gmail, Drive and Photos," the company said. That's different from just deleting all your data because you're inactive. Which is it? Edit: it seems both. Here's the blog post (maybe this is a better link): https://blog.google/products/photos/storage-policy-update/

oh damn. I've created an account for my newborn son on my (free) google workspace domain and send him emails every few weeks with updates and photos. He'll receive the account when he's like 12. Will these be deleted too?

I would be surprised if they did this for Workspace accounts. Deleting data from a organization would be a disaster for Google. I.e. an account may be at a center of a lawsuit or subject to data retention laws.

Indeed, this says no:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/38173?hl=en

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#172
post #42

What about Gmail accounts that forward email to another account? It's an account that is actively used but I never log into such account.

I have this and have been unable to login since 2015 with no ability to recover my account (I know the password, but it's flagged as "unrecognized device"). I also can't turn it off or delete the account.

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#173
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They promised 1GB, had a counter that slowly increased and thens settled at 15GB, as I remember.

Sure, but I’m right now paying for 1TB space, and I can easily forget for example if a credit card expires. Google makes enough money from my subscriptions to at least write my data to a tape when I stop paying, so that I can access it again even 10 years later when I start paying again.

Isn't the opposite also true, that some people would expect them to delete that data?

Seems a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario.

Plus, unless that was part of the contract, why do you expect it? They're a company, you get what you pay for.

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#174
post #51
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good point. I think google doesn't delete anything unless the law forces them to do so.

That's not correct. If you delete things they are actually deleted, though it does take a few months to be gone from everywhere. ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19965615 , https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12980863 , https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19809320 , etc) (Disclosure: I work for google, speaking only for myself)

I believe what you say that it gets deleted. What I am not sure is whether it gets copied somewhere else for long term storage or some data mining, thing that you may not be aware of. I doubt you know everything that happens at google but I might be wrong there as I don't know who exactly is that I am talking to. Regardless, google has lost my trust completely and am not sure if it is possible to recover it and go back to the "do no evil stage" anymore.

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#175

Set a reminder every 3 or 6 months to use Google Takeout. Download a full copy of your data to a hard drive in your local possession. If you’re really paranoid, download a 2nd copy and put it on a hard drive that you then leave unplugged from all computers and the internet until the next time. Simple solution for anyone with broadband, and then if you ever lost your cloud data due to subscription lapsing or inactivit…

Wait, what's the danger of keeping your backup on an internet connected machine?

Ransomware

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#176
post #15

The same happened to my old "...@hotmail.com" email, Microsoft deleted old childhood emails, still bitter about that. Per https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/oemail... , the limit is 365 days of inactivity.

Likewise, so many amazing memories lost. I wish I could look back to how naive and childish I was at the beginning of my time online.

A short time ago I finally found my Geocities webpage (from 1999) in the archive just by chance [It is in Spanish]:

https://web.archive.org/web/20010718195237/http://www.geocit...

It was a blast from the past for me, amazing times for the internet.

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#177
post #4

> "If you're over your storage limit for two years, Google may delete your content across Gmail, Drive and Photos," the company said. That's different from just deleting all your data because you're inactive. Which is it? Edit: it seems both. Here's the blog post (maybe this is a better link): https://blog.google/products/photos/storage-policy-update/

oh damn. I've created an account for my newborn son on my (free) google workspace domain and send him emails every few weeks with updates and photos. He'll receive the account when he's like 12. Will these be deleted too?

Just dont delete the emails from your sent folder... But of course still back it up

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#178

It can be worse. I got a letter recently from a mutual fund saying I'd done nothing with my account for years, and if they didn't hear from me soon, they were going to hand it over to the government. (I'm a buy and hold, hold, hold, hold, investor.)

Wow, this seems like one of those name and shame cases. A login shouldn't be expected here.

This is actually standard practice (in the U.S.), and there are official procedures to recover unclaimed assets. See: https://www.usa.gov/unclaimed-money

Re: An update to storage policies across your Google Account

#180
post #4

> "If you're over your storage limit for two years, Google may delete your content across Gmail, Drive and Photos," the company said. That's different from just deleting all your data because you're inactive. Which is it? Edit: it seems both. Here's the blog post (maybe this is a better link): https://blog.google/products/photos/storage-policy-update/

oh damn. I've created an account for my newborn son on my (free) google workspace domain and send him emails every few weeks with updates and photos. He'll receive the account when he's like 12. Will these be deleted too?

That's a neat idea, but I'd be really, really distrustful of putting an effort of genuine feelings into a platform hosted by somebody else. That's a long time for Google not to screw it up, and it'll be sad when they do screw it up.
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