Stay logged into GMail without getting tracked by Google

Question

I use GMail and I like to stay logged in, so I can come back and check it once in a while. What I don't like, however, is that Google can track any web searches I do against my Google user ID. They can probably track other sites I visit using Google Analytics, too, which is extremely pervasive nowdays. What's the best way to stay logged into GMail, but effectively not be logged into any other Google site, either in Firefox or Chrome? Any addon or Greasemonkey script that might help here?

Answer 1

This one is kind of a pedestrian response, but it'll do the trick.

Start a new firefox with a different profile. Create a new profile specifically for gmail. Set it as a desktop icon for quick access.

firefox -P nameOfProfile on a shortcut will do the trick. Create a new profile with firefox -ProfileWizard

Answer 2

Another way of doing this would be to use gmail via an imap client e.g. Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird (If you are using windows). Then you won't have google account login problems. If you are so paranoid as to be afraid of IP-time based tracking, you can try using anonymous proxies for web surfing while having gmail access via the imap client.

Consider supporting IPREDator (from Piratebay project) if you need anonymous VPN service: https://www.ipredator.se/?lang=en

Answer 3

Also, this might be of interest if you are concerned about Google Analytics:

Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on (BETA) http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Answer 4

Most (if not all) modern browsers provide for "private" sessions. I would consider opening one of these, and logging into GMail from there. That way you will be logged in for that session, but not logged into any other Google services in your normal browsing sessions.

Answer 5

Use Scroogle, it is made for this reason.

Scroogle is not a search engine, it just do a anonimized google search, there are many plugins, and options to use it. (SSL, language, etc...)

This will help with the search, every other problem should be solved with Adblock plus and the easyPrivacy suscription. ( easylist.adblockplus.org )

Answer 6

When I'm not using a second Firefox profile for this, I deal with this by using a second browser. I generally have multiple for a reason, so I use it for this. For instance, I only use IE for sites that require it, so using it for Gmail is useful since I'm not doing anything else with it. SeaMonkey uses the Gecko rendering engine and is also a Mozilla browser if you want another alternative.

Answer 7

I wrote a Chrome extension to solve this exact problem:

http://www.alma.com/chromium/hin/

John Hinsdale