Google offers 2GB of free storage, adds Gmail encryption updates

UPDATE: Feb. 9, 2016, 5:35 p.m. EST
In honor of Safer Internet Day, an annual online, worldwide promotion of safe Internet practices (particularly with regard to children), Google is giving away more storage on Google Drive.

The additional storage adds up to 2GB, which may not sound like much, but is enough to back up pretty much all your essentials.

However, to get that 2GB, you first must go through the Google Security Checkup. We did it and it only took a few minutes -- a small price to pay for an extra 2GB.

As it is, Google Drive offers 15GB of free storage (30GB for work and school accounts), so the slight bump isn't likely to dramatically change how you use the service, but the process you need to go through to get it is the point -- a set of actions that reinforce your attention to attending to your online security settings.

In addition to the extra storage, Google is also enhancing Gmail by flagging emails from senders that make it into your inbox but haven’t been authenticated by TLS encryption (transport layer security). TLS encryption polices the security of email messages while they’re in transit, ensuring that your email remains private and isn’t exposed to third parties while en route.

And because not all email providers provide TLS encryption, Gmail will now display a broken lock icon on non-encrypted emails, as well as a question mark in place of the face logo (or custom icon) displayed next to a user’s email address. The change adds yet another layer of security to Gmail’s already robust security measures. 

If you've never heard of Safer Internet Day, you can visit the movement's website for more background, or check out Twitter and search for the trending hashtag #SaferInternetDay.

Google offered a similar storage bump for last year's Safer Internet Day, but it should be noted that the storage does not include Google Apps for Education and Work accounts, and the offer only runs until Feb. 11. 

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