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Google has warned users that their Gmail accounts may start to be deleted. The company says it is giving affects users plenty of time to ensure they are able to secure any accounts they want to retain access to. The mass deletion will begin at the start of December, and apply only to inactive accounts. The company says it is doing so for safety, since old accounts may represent a security risk. Google considers an account to be inactive if people do not log in within two years. Logging in includes not only looking at the Gmail inbox but also using that same login to watch YouTube or make Google searches, or downloading apps from the Play Store. Accounts that have money in them in the form of gift cards will also be kept open, Google has said. Google warned in May that it would start deleting accounts. It said that it was doing so because those inactive accounts were more likely to be compromised, and could be used for other online crime. “This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven’t had two factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user,” said Ruth Kricheli, Google’s vice president for product management, at the time. “Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10 times less likely than active accounts to have 2-step-verification set up.” Those attackers can then use that account to send spam email or steal people’s identities, the company warned. But it is now sending emails to those affected, giving them a warning that they could soon lose access to their account, noted Bleeping Computer. It tells users that it is doing so “to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorized access to your account even if you’re no longer using our services”. The messages will be sent not only to the actual Gmail account in question, but also to any recovery email addresses that have been provided. Users will given at least eight months’ warning before their accounts are removed, Google says. Once an account is deleted, the email associated with it will no longer be eligible for use, so that people will not be able to steal old and now recovered addresses.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have called young innovators and campaigners to congratulate them on being awarded a share of a multimillion-dollar prize to boost their efforts. Harry and Meghan rang some of the 26 recipients who will receive the financial award from the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund – and joked that their children were “incredibly grateful”. The couple’s Archewell Foundation is a founding member of the initiative which has a number of aims including shaping the “tech ecosystem to safeguard human rights” and “mitigating the harmful impacts of technology in communities”. Holding a mobile between himself and Meghan, Harry said to one winner: “Thank you for doing everything that you do. Our kids especially are incredibly grateful.” The Sussexes have a son Archie and a daughter Lilibet, and Megan added: “They don’t know it yet – but they will.” The fund raised 2 million US dollars (£1.6m) from backers and awarded amounts ranging from 25,000 dollars (£19,700) to 200,000 dollars (£157,000) — based on the stage of the organisation and funding needs. The recipients will work on a range of innovative projects, including responsible use of artificial intelligence; improving education access; leveraging platforms to address social and environmental challenges and promoting the safety and well-being of online communities. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Slack has been hit by issues for the second time in a week. Users reported that they were unable to see images properly – while others said they were not able to get online at all. The outage will be a disruption to the many workplaces who use the app to keep up with colleagues, especially with the rise of remote working. The problems happened during the working day in the UK and US. The technical issues came just days after another outage at the app, last week. Those problems were more significant, and users around the world were unable to sign on or send messages. This time around, the problems did not appear to be affecting all users and for most they were more limited in their scope. Slack’s official status page was updated on Wednesday to indicate that users “may be experiencing issues loading threads, admin pages and images”. It said it was investigating the issue. Tracking website Down Detector saw a huge spike in the number of people reporting issues. It was unclear if the problems were limited to specific platforms or locations. Slack says that it has more than 200,000 paid customers, which includes 77 of the Fortune 100. Those companies include some of the US’s biggest firms including Target, Uber, Expedia and Airbnb. Read More Slack has stopped working Google warns Gmail users they could be about to lose their account Hundreds of years after it was discovered, one material could change the world

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An Indian tax panel on Wednesday decided to move ahead with the goods and services tax on online

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