When using "add user" in guest browsing, what level of "isolation" does one get? If any?
That is, I can log into google or facebook etc multiple times so I assume that at least cookies are separated yes but are those pages, or say adverts, or even more potentially malicious pages able to see/track what happens on other guest/user "sessions" other ways?
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1 Answers
According to the Google's docs here
Differences between Guest mode and Incognito mode Both Guest mode and Incognito mode are temporary browsing modes, but there are some basic differences between them. Guest mode: A user in Guest mode does not leave any browsing history or cookies on the computer. In addition, they can't see or modify the computer owner's Chrome profile. Incognito mode: You don't leave browsing history and cookies on your computer, but you can still see your existing history, bookmarks, passwords, Autofill data, and other
For more information about what's stored in both modes, visit the Chrome Privacy Policy.
On the machine your data is separated across the two sessions but there are ways for websites, employers and ISPs to track you.
As the Google document says:
Important: Neither Incognito mode nor Guest mode makes you invisible on the web. Websites you visit, your employer, or your service provider can still see your browsing activity.
If there is any "super cookie" that a carrier employs or tracking software based on browser fingerprinting (see panopticlick or amiunique for more details) then you can still be tracked.
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Thanx. I didn't think that the guest or incognito modes would serve like tor/vpn or save from fingerprinting etc, just hoping for a _bit_ more privacy. I hadn't thought that guest mode would necessarily be like incognito mode, I had thought it just separated browsing sessions (learned something new!). Its still not 100% clear to me, in incognito mode i think if I open 2 or more then the info in those additional windows are visible to each other. In guest mode, if I open 2 or more guests/users would info between those additional guests/users be visible to each other? – user1840 Sep 26 '16 at 20:59
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If you open two incognito Windows, they will be isolated from each other as each window runs as a separate process and is also sandboxed so they will be isolated. In guest mode however, running Chrome with different users allows them all to run independently from each other as they save their profiles, extensions, preferences, cookies, sessions each to their own profile directory inside User Data. Different users cannot see other users data using Chrome. – ARau Sep 26 '16 at 23:08
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Great! Thats what I needed to know! Thanks @blownie55 ! – user1840 Sep 26 '16 at 23:42
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@user1840 Please upvote or mark this answer as the accepted answer so it can help others who may have the same or similar question. – ARau Sep 27 '16 at 14:05
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oops, sorry, not a stackexchange regular. thx for the reminder. – user1840 Sep 27 '16 at 15:27