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Comment by minot | Hacker News Reader

My use case is multiple Google accounts. I can log in to multiple Google accounts at the same time in different containers and answer emails very easily.

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You can be logged into multiple Google Accounts at the same time without the extension. Just click the little profile icon in the top right and click "Add Account."

I'm logged into four, including a Gapps account.

Have they fixed the issues though where some of their apps only work with the primary account you're logged in with? (e.g. the first one)

Google Play Console only works with your primary account.

Over the years they have definitely fixed those one by one, but I’m not sure if they’ve fixed all of them. I believe the last problematic one I encountered was some ads-related developer console a year or two ago.

They fixed the big ones but there are still a bunch of edge cases where you have to log out, like one account is from US and one is from Canada.

No. I use this feature daily, and have to login to my "primary" Google ID for my Drive/Calendar, then I "Add Account" to enable my secondary/tertiary ID's. It has to be in that order.

Good question, though the account isolation to the extent I've tested it has been surprisingly good.

I still don't fully trust it, but that's a different matter.

+1 deal with this all the time on spreadsheets ===== fixed

This would let Google know these accounts are affiliated with the same person on your network, whereas containers won't necessarily provide that assumption.

Right?

If they wanted to they could associate them other ways by just looking at the IP address and/or browser fingerprinting.

My thought is that they can certainly find good indicators that they're related, but that signing into them at the same time directly in their website confirms the relationship. Bear in mind, everything coming from say, a corporate network, won't be distinguishable by IP, and browser fingerprinting is likely less helpful in an environment with a hundred PCs running identical system images.

Your home device may not live in such a family, but it's hard for Google to determine that.

Even in a corporate network there's some plugin drift over time depending on job role especially for developers. And GP specifically has installed a container add-on which probably makes him/her fairly unique among all the corporate traffic coming from that IP/group of IPs.

Most good corporate environments should be controlling what plugins they allow users to install in their browsers. (For the few users we permit to use Chrome, for example, all extensions are disabled.)

But again, the issue is not your specific configuration (or GP's specific configuration), the point is that Google cannot assume same IP or browser fingerprint is a definitive association of identity, whereas signing in additional users in Google's app definitely does.

> Most good corporate environments should be controlling what plugins they allow users to install in their browsers.

For a very odd definition of the term 'good' I suppose that's may be the case. It's certainly not been in any place I've worked in the past 20 yrs.

I can't vouch for the security of any place you've worked in the past 20 years.

But suffice to say, it's very common for Chrome extensions to be able to both modify any content on websites you view and read data you enter into them. Both adware and spyware is prolific on the Chrome Web Store, and it's the number one infection vector I see.

Controlling extensions is downright basic competency for network security. With regards to Chrome, I currently operate an outright block, though obviously we can whitelist extensions as necessary. (One thing Chrome does particularly well is their ADMX templates: It's easy to blacklist and whitelist extensions, and install them compulsorily for users as well.)

Considering that I've spent 15 of the last of those 20 years working at cybersecurity companies, I can say with some degree of assuredness that your level of control over browser extensions goes far beyond the typical work environment, and that goes doubly so for companies based in silicon valley. Do you really think that all those engineers at Google/FB/Apple/etc can't install browser extensions?

I assume there is no hiding from Google unless you black-hole their IPs. Also, don't let an Android device with links to Google be near you.

It'd hard to ban Google from your life even if you want ti. I think governments should help citizens achieve that when they choose so.

If you browser fingerprint and uniquely identify someone in this scenario what is the GDPR rationale going to be?

I'm not sure if this is the same thing you are suggesting, but what I like to do is use the "Manage people" option from the menu at the top right. My work and home google accounts are never logged in at the same time in the same chrome window. It seems to keep everything separated pretty well, even extensions seem to maintain their own settings/"activated-ness" within each person/account.

On Chrome you have the SessionBox extension - https://sessionbox.io/discover

Why don't you use Thunderbird for multiple mail accounts? I cannot imagine using web interface for multiple email accounts, too much effort, taking my browser tab space. Thunderbird is right tool for it...

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