Google is set to begin deleting millions of Gmail, Drive and Photos accounts next month as part of a major update to the platform. The purge will impact all personal Google accounts that have been left dormant for at least two years, with emails, documents, spreadsheets, calendar appointments, photos and videos all permanently deleted. The policy was introduced earlier this year but is set to come into effect in December 2023. “We are updating our inactivity policy for Google Accounts to two years across our products,” Ruth Kricheli, Google’s vice president of product management, wrote in a blog post in May. “This update aligns our policy with industry standards around retention and account deletion and also limits the amount of time Google retains your unused personal information.” The move is aimed at protecting active Google users from security threats like phishing scams and account hijacking. Old accounts that have not been used for years are typically at risk from hackers as they may use the same passwords that have been compromised in other security breaches, which are easily available on the dark web. Any account at risk of deletion will receive “multiple notifications” before any action is taken, Google said, including to any associated recovery email addresses. The tech giant has already begun sending emails to those affected, telling users it is “to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorised access to your account even if you’re no longer using our services”. Losing access to a Gmail account could also potentially prevent people from using other online platforms and services that are associated with that email address, even if they are not related to Google. In order to keep an account active and avoid being deleted, Google users are advised to open or send an email, use Google Drive, download an app on the Google Play Store, or simply make a Google Search while logged in to the account. Any account that has posted a video to YouTube will also not be impacted, regardless of when it was last active. Read More ‘Is AI dangerous?’ UK’s most Googled questions about artificial intelligence Big tech poses ‘existential threat’ to UK journalism, survey of editors finds Political ads on Instagram and Facebook can be deepfakes, Meta says

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AI does not represent “an existential threat to humanity”, hundreds of experts have urged in a new open letter. It is just the latest intervention by engineers and other academics amid an increasing interest and fear about the future of artificial intelligence. The new letter follows a recent intervention by technologists including Elon Musk, who in March was one of more than 1,000 experts who said that humanity was in danger from AI experiments. It called on companies to pause their work and consider the dangers - and asked governments to intervene if they would not. The new letter stands in opposition to that call. It says that AI “will be a transformative force for good if we get critical decisions about its development and use right”. The letter was organised by UK-based BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT. It said that it had launched the letter to counter “AI doom”. It says that the country “can help lead the way in setting professional and technical standards in AI roles, supported by a robust code of conduct, international collaboration and fully resourced regulation”. By doing so it would not only help promote the UK as an AI destination but also ensure that AI was used for good, it said. The signatories includes a range of people from across society, including those who work in think tanks and public bodies and not specifically on artificial intelligence. But it also includes a range of engineers and others who have worked on artificial intelligence within academic and business contexts. BCS said that the calls including those in the letter signed by Elon Musk earlier this year could help play into the hands of bad actors. “The technologists and leaders who signed our statement believe AI won’t grow up like The Terminator but instead as a trusted co-pilot in learning, work, healthcare, entertainment,” said Rashik Parmar, the chief executive of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. “One way of achieving that is for AI to be created and managed by licensed and ethical professionals meeting standards that are recognised across international borders. “The public need confidence that the experts not only know how to create and use AI but how to use it responsibly. Yes, AI is a journey with no return ticket, but this letter shows the tech community doesn’t believe it ends with the nightmare scenario of evil robot overlords.” Read More Meta unveils its ChatGPT rival Llama xAI: Everything we know about Elon Musk’s new AI company Meet the AI human-like robots that can do our jobs

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