Google will automatically delete all Android backup files that users store in their Google Drive account if the phone is not used for two weeks.
Google will detect the period of inactivity of an Android mobile phone and start a 60-day counter that, if it reaches zero, will automatically delete old Android backups from the user's account.
The auto-delete feature was discovered this week by a Reddit user who was trying to recover a backup for his Nexus 6P that had a problem. The user sent the phone back for repair and after it was returned to him noticed that the phone's backup files had been marked for deletion.
Google's help page offers very little information about this mechanism. Google does not display any warning about the automatic deletion mechanism when users save a new backup, and does not send any email when files are marked for deletion.
Please note that Google backups include very sensitive data, such as apps, call history, device settings, contacts, calendar, SMS (on Pixel phones only), photos and videos (on Pixel phones only).
