5 ms·

From the email I got from Google a few minutes ago: > Summary of the new policies (effective June 1, 2021): > • If you're inactive for 2 years (24 months) in

From the email I got from Google a few minutes ago: > Summary of the new policies (effective June 1, 2021): > • If you're inactive for 2 years (24 months) in Gmail, Drive or Photos, we may delete the content in the product(s) in which you're inactive. Google One members who are within their storage quota and in good-standing will not be impacted by this new inactive policy. > • If you exceed your storage limit for 2 years, we may delete your content across Gmail, Drive and Photos. Is Google running out of storage?

jonatron 6y ago
Someone probably just ran the numbers and said we'd save X if we delete inactive users and users of the limit.
- dash2 6y ago
  I think it's more like "we'd make X if we can push enough users to pay for a subscription". Unlikely that Google can't afford a few exabytes of memory.
tempest_ 6y ago
Nah, the data has already been harvested and used so it isn't worth storing it anymore (except to you of course).
hated 6y ago
Historical data probably isn't as rich in detail as the new stuff they are collecting. I bet the old data is too coarse grained to be effectively joined across a variety of newer data tracking sources.
kllrnohj 6y ago
If the users are inactive they aren't seeing ads. Google isn't a charity, why would they pay for storage that isn't being used? Also, somewhat morbidly, dead people don't really need their photos and emails hosted perpetually.
- blacksmith_tb 6y ago
  They don't, but as a society we would all benefit from some way to archive at least some of that. Future historians will curse us for not leaving behind letters, photos, etc. (which is especially ironic given how much more of them we're each generating).
  - notimetorelax 6y ago
    Heh, now try to win the privacy debate that’s on the other side of your argument.
    - thekyle 6y ago
      One argument I've heard is that you can encrypt your data now to gain privacy while you're alive. Then by the time the data would be useful for historians they'll probably have enough compute to break 21st century encryption.
  - Lexarius 6y ago
    If you're worried about your data evaporating, consider using Google Inactive Account Manager to set up a way to automatically gift your data to a family member. https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en
  - BHSPitMonkey 6y ago
    There's already enough publicly-shared content online to keep historians facepalming about this era for centuries to come, without digging into everyone's non-public files.
  - dannyw 6y ago
    People can choose whether they want their data retained after death. A default opt out sounds good.
- sorenjan 6y ago
  I was also thinking about how this is part of their new policy to not provide unlimited image uploads to Photos, even for active users.
simias 6y ago
In the blog post they mention that they store over 4PB of data every single day, I can't blame them try trying to rationalize this a bit. I'm really curious to know how much data they'll be able to expunge on January 1 2023, when the 24month deadline expires. It might end up being the biggest "rm" in computer history.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- Axsuul 6y ago
  That 4PB is likely heavily compressed into TBs
koyote 6y ago
> If you're inactive for 2 years (24 months) in Gmail, Drive or Photos, Maybe it's the engineer in me, but doesn't that imply that even if you're active in Gmail and Drive, they'll delete your data because you are not active in Photos? i.e. shouldn't that be an 'and' instead of an 'or'?
- mikejb 6y ago
  I couldn't find the direct quote, so they may have adjusted the sentence you're referring to. It's clearer now: > If you're inactive in one or more of these services for two years (24 months), Google may delete the content in the product(s) in which you're inactive.
imhoguy 6y ago
> Is Google running out of storage? I guess is all about money. COVID disrupted ad chains as companies over the world revised their spending budgets. Some brick&mortar closed down for weeks thus they likely canceled ads completely. Ad income is fremium fuel. Cost cuts!
simonebrunozzi 6y ago
No, they're trying to monetize you.
throwaway58670 6y ago
I’ve gotten a flurry of “your unused firebase database will be deleted” for tiny hackathon projects from years ago. Guess they’re running some global cleaning. Maybe machine learning stuff needs a lot of space?
marcthe12 6y ago
I am guessing as there have been alot of policy changes related to storage. Maybe not fully but unsustainable amount

jonatron 6y ago

Someone probably just ran the numbers and said we'd save X if we delete inactive users and users of the limit.

dash2 6y ago
I think it's more like "we'd make X if we can push enough users to pay for a subscription". Unlikely that Google can't afford a few exabytes of memory.

tempest_ 6y ago

Nah, the data has already been harvested and used so it isn't worth storing it anymore (except to you of course).

hated 6y ago

Historical data probably isn't as rich in detail as the new stuff they are collecting. I bet the old data is too coarse grained to be effectively joined across a variety of newer data tracking sources.

kllrnohj 6y ago

If the users are inactive they aren't seeing ads. Google isn't a charity, why would they pay for storage that isn't being used? Also, somewhat morbidly, dead people don't really need their photos and emails hosted perpetually.

blacksmith_tb 6y ago
They don't, but as a society we would all benefit from some way to archive at least some of that. Future historians will curse us for not leaving behind letters, photos, etc. (which is especially ironic given how much more of them we're each generating).
- notimetorelax 6y ago
  Heh, now try to win the privacy debate that’s on the other side of your argument.
  - thekyle 6y ago
    One argument I've heard is that you can encrypt your data now to gain privacy while you're alive. Then by the time the data would be useful for historians they'll probably have enough compute to break 21st century encryption.
- Lexarius 6y ago
  If you're worried about your data evaporating, consider using Google Inactive Account Manager to set up a way to automatically gift your data to a family member. https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en
- BHSPitMonkey 6y ago
  There's already enough publicly-shared content online to keep historians facepalming about this era for centuries to come, without digging into everyone's non-public files.
- dannyw 6y ago
  People can choose whether they want their data retained after death. A default opt out sounds good.
sorenjan 6y ago
I was also thinking about how this is part of their new policy to not provide unlimited image uploads to Photos, even for active users.

simias 6y ago

In the blog post they mention that they store over 4PB of data every single day, I can't blame them try trying to rationalize this a bit. I'm really curious to know how much data they'll be able to expunge on January 1 2023, when the 24month deadline expires. It might end up being the biggest "rm" in computer history.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Axsuul 6y ago
That 4PB is likely heavily compressed into TBs

koyote 6y ago

> If you're inactive for 2 years (24 months) in Gmail, Drive or Photos, Maybe it's the engineer in me, but doesn't that imply that even if you're active in Gmail and Drive, they'll delete your data because you are not active in Photos? i.e. shouldn't that be an 'and' instead of an 'or'?

mikejb 6y ago
I couldn't find the direct quote, so they may have adjusted the sentence you're referring to. It's clearer now: > If you're inactive in one or more of these services for two years (24 months), Google may delete the content in the product(s) in which you're inactive.

imhoguy 6y ago

> Is Google running out of storage? I guess is all about money. COVID disrupted ad chains as companies over the world revised their spending budgets. Some brick&mortar closed down for weeks thus they likely canceled ads completely. Ad income is fremium fuel. Cost cuts!

simonebrunozzi 6y ago

No, they're trying to monetize you.

throwaway58670 6y ago

I’ve gotten a flurry of “your unused firebase database will be deleted” for tiny hackathon projects from years ago. Guess they’re running some global cleaning. Maybe machine learning stuff needs a lot of space?

marcthe12 6y ago

I am guessing as there have been alot of policy changes related to storage. Maybe not fully but unsustainable amount