Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Updating our Google Account inactivity policy

Every day Google works hard to keep you and your private information safe and secure by preventing unauthorized access to your Google Account with our built-in security protections. And keeping you safe means having strong privacy practices across our products that minimize how long we store your personal files and any data associated with them. We want to protect your private information and prevent any unauthorized access to your account even if you're no longer using our services.

Therefore, we are updating the inactivity period for a Google Account to two years across all our products and services. This change starts rolling out today and will apply to any Google Account that's been inactive, meaning it has not been signed into or used within a two-year period. An inactive account and any content in it will be eligible for deletion from December 1, 2023.

What this means for you:

  • These changes do not impact you unless you have been inactive in your Google Account for two years or have not used your account to sign in to any Google service for over two years.
  • While the changes go into effect today, the earliest we would enforce any account deletion would be December 2023.
  • If your account is considered inactive, we will send several reminder emails to both you and your recovery emails (if any have been provided) before we take any action or delete any account content. These reminder emails will go out at least 8 months before any action is taken on your account.
  • After a Google Account is deleted, the Gmail address for the deleted account cannot be used again when creating a new Google Account.

How to keep your account active?

The simplest way to keep a Google Account active is to sign in to the account at least once every two years. If you have signed in to your Google Account recently in the past two years, your account is considered active and will not be deleted.

Other ways to keep your account active include:

  • Reading or sending an email
  • Using Google Drive
  • Watching a YouTube video
  • Sharing a photo
  • Downloading an app
  • Using Google Search
  • Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service

There are some exceptions to this policy. Examples include: a Google Account with YouTube channels, videos or comments; an account that has a gift card with a monetary balance; or an account that has a published application, for example, one that hosts an app on the Google Play store. Other exceptions to this policy are available here.

Google also offers tools to help manage your Google Account and provide options to back up your data, including the ability to download your data using Google Takeout, and allowing you to plan for what happens to your data if you're inactive for a specific period of time with the Inactive Account Manager.

Our priority is to make it as easy as possible for you to keep your account active, if you want to, and we'll ensure you have adequate notice before any account is impacted by this change. So before an account is deleted, Google will send email notifications to the Google Account and its recovery email (if one has been provided). You should verify that your recovery email is up to date.

Learn more

Thank you,
The Google Account team

You have received this email to update you about important changes to your Google Account and services.

© 2023 Google LLC 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043



Friday, February 10, 2023

Your post titled "Changes to Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service" has been unpublished

Hello,

As you may know, our Community Guidelines
(https://blogger.com/go/contentpolicy) describe the boundaries for what we
allow-- and don't allow-- on Blogger. Your post titled "Changes to Google
Privacy Policy and Terms of Service" was flagged to us for review. We have
determined that it violates our guidelines and have unpublished the URL
http://aarp-medical-insurance-ways.blogspot.com/2012/01/changes-to-google-privacy-policy-and.html,
making it unavailable to blog readers.

Why was your blog post unpublished?
Your content has violated our Spam policy. Please visit our Community
Guidelines page linked in this email to learn more.

If you are interested in republishing the post, please update the
content to adhere to Blogger's Community Guidelines. Once the content is
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This will trigger a review of the post.

For more information, please review the following resources:

Terms of Service: https://www.blogger.com/go/terms
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Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Learn more about our updated Terms of Service

CatherineLTraylor@gmail.com

On January 5, 2022, we're making some changes to our Terms of Service. These changes won't affect the way you use Google services, but they'll make it easier for you to understand what to expect from Google — and what we expect from you — as you use our services.

You can review the new terms here. At a glance, here's what this update means for you:

  • More clarity on what you can expect from Google and what we expect from you: We're providing more examples to describe the mutually respectful conduct that we expect from all our users.
  • Improved readability: While our terms remain a legal document, we've done our best to make them easier to understand, including reorganizing some topics so that they're easier to find.

If you use Family Link to manage a Google Account for someone else, please take some time to talk to them about these changes.

Thank you for using Google!

Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA, 94043

You have received this email to update you about important changes to Google's Terms of Service.

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Important policy changes for Google Account storage

                                                                                                                                                                                              
New inactive and over quota storage policies
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Dear Google User,
We are writing to let you know that we recently announced new storage policies for Google Accounts using Gmail, Google Drive (including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard files) and/or Google Photos that bring us in line with industry practices. Since you have previously used one or more of these products in your Google Account storage, we wanted to tell you about the new policies well before they go into effect on June 1, 2021. Below is a summary of the new policies. Please reference our Help Center article for a complete list of what's changing.
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.
What this means for you:
You won't be impacted by these changes unless you've been inactive or over your storage limit for 2 years. As this policy goes into effect June 1, 2021, the earliest it would be enforced is June 1, 2023.
After June 1, 2021, if you are either inactive or over your storage limit, we will send you email reminders and notifications in advance and prior to deleting any content.
Even if you are either inactive or over your storage limit for one or more of these services and content is deleted, you will still be able to sign in.
Note: The inactivity and over quota storage policies will apply only to consumer users of Google services. Google Workspace, G Suite for Education and G Suite for Nonprofits policies are not changing at this time, and admins should look to the Admin Help center for storage policies related to their subscriptions.
Learn more about how to keep your account active
To learn more about how to remain active with these products, visit this Help Center page.
The Inactive Account Manager can help you manage specific content and notify a trusted contact if you stop using your Google Account for a certain period of time (between 3-18 months). Note: the new 2 year inactive policy will apply regardless of your Inactive Account Manager settings. You can learn more about these changes and ways to manage your or a loved one's account in our Help Center.
Learn how to manage your storage
Learn more about the over quota policy and what counts against storage quota.
You can use the free storage manager in the Google One app and on the web to see how you're using your Google Account storage, and free up space across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos.
Your Google Team

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Learn more about our updated Terms of Service

Google
Updating Our Terms of Service
We're improving our Terms of Service and making them easier for you to understand. The changes will take effect on March 31, 2020, and they won't impact the way you use Google services.
For more details, we've provided a summary of the key changes and Frequently Asked Questions. At a glance, here's what this update means for you:
Improved readability: While our Terms remain a legal document, we've done our best to make them easier to understand, including by adding links to useful information and providing definitions.
Better communication: We've clearly explained when we'll make changes to our services (like adding or removing a feature) and when we'll restrict or end a user's access. And we'll do more to notify you when a change negatively impacts your experience on our services.
Adding Google Chrome, Google Chrome OS and Google Drive to the Terms: Our improved Terms now cover Google Chrome, Google Chrome OS, and Google Drive, which also have service-specific terms and policies to help you understand what's unique to those services.
No changes to our Privacy Policy: We're not making any changes to the Google Privacy Policy and we haven't made any changes to the way we treat your information. As a reminder, you can always visit your Google Account to review your privacy settings and manage how your data is used.
If you're the guardian of a child under the age required to manage their own Google Account and you use Family Link to manage their use of Google services, please take some time to discuss these changes with them.
And of course, if you don't agree to our new Terms and what we can expect from each other as you use our services, you can find more information about your options in our Frequently Asked Questions.
Thank you for using Google's services.
Your Google team

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Improvements to our Privacy Policy and Privacy Controls

Google
Updating Our Privacy Policy
This month, we're updating our Privacy Policy to make it easier for you to understand what information we collect and why we collect it. We've also taken steps to improve our Privacy Checkup and other controls we provide to safeguard your data and protect your privacy.
Nothing is changing about your current settings or how your information is processed. Rather, we've improved the way we describe our practices and how we explain the options you have to update, manage, export, and delete your data.
We're making these updates as new data protection regulations come into effect in the European Union, and we're taking the opportunity to make improvements for Google users around the world.
Making our Privacy Policy easier to understand
Simpler structure & clearer language
We've improved the navigation and organization of the policy to make it easier to find what you're looking for. We've also explained our practices in more detail and with clearer language.
New descriptive videos & illustrations
Often a visual description is easier to understand than text alone, so we've added short videos and illustrations throughout the policy.
Embedded privacy controls
We've made it easier to jump to key settings directly from the policy, helping you make choices about your privacy.
The revised policy is available here and will take effect on May 25, 2018.
Improving your privacy controls
Within the past year, we updated My Activity so that you can better access and manage the data in your Google Account. We also launched a redesigned Dashboard, which allows you to easily see an overview of products you're using and your data associated with them.
This month, we've updated our Privacy Checkup with new illustrations and examples to help you make more informed choices about your key privacy controls. And since we understand that your preferences may change over time, the new Privacy Checkup enables you to sign up for regular reminders to check your privacy settings.
To learn more about these and other controls to manage your privacy, visit your Google Account.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Step-by-step Guide to Medical Tourism

Going overseas for surgical treatment can be overwhelming for anybody. After all, it's not like going to a hospital down the road where you have been to before and know all the doctors and nurses. To be successful in your pursuit of low-cost high quality medical treatment, there is a step by step process that you must follow to gain confidence in your decision, get the right care and save money.

STEP 1: FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE TREND OF MEDICAL TOURISM
Find out why everybody is raving about it and why they are willing to travel half the world for it. Learn from the experience of others. Read news and articles on the subject. Check out the frequently asked questions that medical tourists have at https://www.healthbase.com/hb/pages/medical-tourism-faq.jsp.

STEP 2: RESEARCH ON THE MEDICAL PROCEDURE
Find out all you can about the medical procedure in question – problems it solves, follow-up care needed, physical therapy required, etc. This will help you clear 3 doubts: is the procedure right for your condition; are you the right candidate for the procedure; and should you go abroad for it.

STEP 3: FIND OUT IF MEDICAL TOURISM IS WHAT YOU WANT
Medical tourism is not always a good choice for non-emergency medical treatments. Sometimes transportation costs may outweigh the possible savings achievable by going abroad. In some cases, the time required for the surgery abroad may be too much for you to spare. Or, the surgery you need may not be available abroad with a reputable health care provider.

STEP 4: LEARN ABOUT MEDICAL TOURISM DESTINATIONS
Some countries have the reputation for top-quality cardiac surgery while others for world-class orthopedics and yet others for cosmetic procedures. So make your selection wisely. Sometimes distance can also play an important role in your decision-making, like in the case of small dental jobs. You should also prepare yourself for culture differences.

STEP 5: LEARN ABOUT INTERNATIONAL FACILITIES AND SURGEONS
When researching on any health care provider try to find answers to the following:
Does the hospital or clinic employ the latest equipments and technology? Do they have expertise in the medical procedure you are seeking? What accreditations and awards do they have? Are the surgeons qualified enough? Where did they receive their education and training?
Answering these questions will give you a fair idea of the standard of quality of the provider.

STEP 6: ARRANGE ALL YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS
You will need them at the time of pre-consultation with your overseas surgeon as well as when you go abroad for surgery. Depending upon the condition you are treating, medical records you may need are: X-Rays, X-Ray reports, MRI's, health histories, photographs, immunization record, prescriptions, etc..

STEP 7: REQUEST AND COMPARE QUOTES
Costs of health care vary from country to country and provider to provider. So request for quotes and compare them. Your selection of a particular provider and country should be based not just on low cost but also on quality as well as distance.

STEP 8: CHECK WITH YOUR INSURANCE FOR COVERAGE
With the numerous benefits that medical tourism offers, today some insurance companies have medical tourism plans. So, if you are covered under an overseas medical treatment plan, your insurer might cover your medical tourism expenses in full or in part. So check with your health insurance company for coverage details.

STEP 9: ACQUIRE YOUR PASSPORT AND VISA
If you and/or your travel companion (if any) do not have a passport, you will need to acquire it. Check with the foreign country's embassy if a visa is required for entry and apply for it accordingly.

STEP 10: PLAN YOUR ITINERARY
When planning your itinerary, allow ample time for recovery. Be prepared to stay longer/shorter than expected. If you have travel or tourism on mind, allow time for that as well.

STEP 11: BOOK TICKETS AND ROOMS
Book tickets for yourself and your companion. After your surgery, you can choose to relax at a resort or in a hotel or go traveling in the foreign country. So if possible, make arrangements beforehand.

STEP 12: APPLY FOR TRAVEL INSURANCE PLAN
Consider purchasing one of the short-term health and emergency assistance policies designed for travelers. Travel insurance gives medical tourists coverage for unforeseen problems, from a canceled flight to a serious illness.

STEP 13: APPLY FOR MEDICAL FINANCE LOAN
If you do not have enough money for your medical treatment overseas, you may consider applying for medical loan or dental loan. Loan processing companies provide patient payment plans for plastic surgery, dental procedures, bariatric procedures, dermatology treatments, hospital, etc.

STEP 14: PREPARE YOUR HOME FOR RECOVERY
In certain cases, you may need to prepare your home for recovery. For example, if you are seeking affordable hip resurfacing surgery abroad, you may want to rearrange furniture in your house in advance before you leave to aid during the recovery stages.

STEP 15: PACK YOUR BAGS AND TAKE THE TRIP
Ensure that you have packed comfortable clothing. Bring some local currency, travelers checks, and one or two major credit cards. Keep important contact information handy. Bring all the required medical records. Remember to carry all your medical reports as well as any medicines in your carry-on luggage. Finally, take your well-planned medical trip and return home happy and healthy!

The above step by step medical tourism guide will help you with most aspects of medical tourism. To make your medical travel easy you may want to use a medical tourism provider to help you with all the logistics of medical tourism. Medical tourism providers like Healthbase (http://www.healthbase.com) connect you with the hospital of your choice while providing many other related valuable services.

You can learn more about the growing trend of medical tourism, international healthcare facilities and surgeons, and the details of the medical tourism process by logging on to http://www.healthbase.com. Healthbase.com is a medical tourism facilitator committed to providing low-cost high quality medical travel services to the global medical consumer.