Gmail sign in change

[aernethril]

Has anyone noticed that now not only is the sign in a real pain (for pc use for me) but also has blocked the option to choose not to remain signed in.

So when you sign out, you don't.

Google keeps a track of you on all their pages even when you have "signed out" and the only way I can see now to properly 'sign out' is to shut down the ruddy browser every time.

Anyone got any ideas on this?

[otherego]

That sounds nasty.

I've found little of help - I wish I understood proper geek-speak, but I don't.

This page might give a hint:

https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2017/04/update-refreshing-google-accounts-login.html

It refers to Single Sign In stuff (yes, I had to look that up), but I think the references it makes to your problem might be relevant.

We learned that users didn’t fully understand the implications of interacting with the "Stay signed in" checkbox across all browsers. To mitigate confusion, we're removing the checkbox and users will remain signed in unless they specifically sign out. When using shared or public devices, we recommend using private browsing windows.

A word of warning - the article contains words and phrases like "rolling out," "improved experience," and "ramp up." I didn't dare look too closely as horrors like, "at this time, "robust" and "going forward" are probably lurking there, too. I don't have a bucket to hand...

It does look a little as if it should be possible to sign out the usual way. Presumably, cookies and things will still lurk and need to be cleared. My own preference is to clear everything frequently throughout a session; some folk might find this inconvenient, what with having to log back into things and so on.

Much as I admire Google's technical prowess, I remain very suspicious of their intentions where snoopery is concerned, and clear everything I can whenever possible.

I also use Gmail without Javascript. I do hope they continue to keep this feature going (it results in a very basic version of gmail but really, that's fine for me) - but it should still be feasible to clear everything locally stored, at least, after logging off.

FWIW, I don't allow flash cookies or local storage/dom.storage - although the latter is already proving a problem on a few sites.

Progress? Bah, humbug!

[aernethril]

Hi OE

Thank you for researching this.

That's an interesting page which was not available (or offered to view) in the run up to this change over.

"...we're removing the checkbox and users will remain signed in unless they specifically sign out."

This is the very misleading statement (to put it mildly) that they are touting.

When you sign into eBay for example and keep the box checked, when you sign out, you have signed out and when you go to sign back in again as far as I'm aware (mine works like this) you have to enter your ID or email addy and start from scratch.

The same with the big river site - when I sign out, if I want to sign back in I have to enter my details again from scratch.

Paypal I have long argued is wrong in that it keeps your ID in place unless you close your browser and there is no option to fully sign out. That has been a worry and very annoying up till now.

But Google now doesn't alow you to fully sign out either so that whilst I seem to sign out of my email account, it still is showing my account when I then go to the Google News page which then starts affecting what news they show me plus it's an invasion of privacy.

I am guessing this is all to do with these wretched android (very unsmart) devices but really people should know just how much more of their privacy they are just giving to any tom dick and harry.

I also regularly clear out cookies and more but I'm sure there are some now that are embedded deep in my pc's system which ain't easily found, let alone removed.

I've been using Gmail for so long now it will be a pain to have to change but seriously I think I'm going to have to learn to do without them.

[otherego]

Paypal I have long argued is wrong in that it keeps your ID in place unless you close your browser and there is no option to fully sign out. I don't think I'e had that problem - that I've noticed. Mind you, I buy so little now that I probably wouln't have come across this. Generally, when I complete a purchase, I open the PayPal home page - and simply click Log out or whatever it says.

Having said all that - I always clear cookies and cache after logging out of everything, and so far, this has worked pretty successfully. I've no doubt that the likes of Google, desperate to keep us logged in, are onto this...

You might try clearing cookies and cache after signing out of Gmail, and see whether that helps. If you don't want to clear everything, just clear any Google cookies - it would be interesting to know whether this helps. (In Firefox - Edit > Preferences > Privacy > Show Cookies - clear the ones you want to get rid of.)

I also regularly clear out cookies and more but I'm sure there are some now that are embedded deep in my pc's system which ain't easily found, let alone removed.

I share your concerns that the villains are finding ways around our efforts to preserve our privacy. Once they stoop to slurping up and storing data such as serial numbers and other hardware identifiers, we might as well give up, I fear.

In the meantime - I don't allow dom.storage (accessible via about:config - set its "enabled" option to "false"), flash cookies (if you must have Flash Player, look into the Flash Player Settings Manager) or third party cookies. In addition, I frequently clear History - all the options I can tick. Having to continually log into sites I'm using is a small price to pay for improved privacy/making it harder for Google and friends to track me.

You might also like to consider disabling Javascript when you use Gmail (the NoScript add-on makes this simple), and using the HTML only version. How long it will take Google to slime around this, goodness knows.

I'm seriously considering trying something privacy-friendly like Proton Mail for important stuff - I don't know whether they tolerate multiple accounts, though, and I do like lots of e-mail addresses for different purposes.

Quick edit - if you're using Windows, I think you get to Firefox's preferences via Tools rather than Edit.

[aernethril]

Well, I have another one now.

Couldn't get into my gmail acc which I've kept - no reason - password not hacked at all.  Eventually got to answer the 'security' question and got in only to find big red warning from Google that they'd managed to block someone trying to access my account -

Someone has your password

Someone just used your password to try to sign in to your Google account

Details:
Friday, 18 August 2017 14:45 (United Kingdom Time)
United Kingdom*

Google stopped this sign-in attempt, but you should review your recently used devices:

yeah, really, thank you that was me trying to get in.

Then the option to click the link to review my recently used devices - ho hum!

click on the link and quelle surprise - it is trying to find my location.  Is this me? Well, given that they've got the wrong location, no.  But given that this is my account and I was trying to sign in when I was blocked by google, if I say it is me and then the IP address changes my location, I could end up stuffed again.

Of course, they don't want any other information - much - not!!!!

And my leeetle back forward buttons are still greyed out.

[otherego]

I have a similar problem every time I restart my router, or my ISP changes my IP address.

Their enthusiasm for security is very laudable, but I see little point in a webmail address which only works from one location/IP address.

It's just not safe to use it for anything vital, in case I end up losing all access. (And no, I'm not giving them a telephone number.)

My ISP (Plusnet - touch wood, I've been happy with them for some years, despite their being a BT offshoot) seem to have no servers close to us. If I look my location up using my IP address, it's usually out by hundreds of miles.

That suits me just fine.

I just Google would let us accept what they consider slightly lower levels of security "at our own risk" - and let us log in when our IP address changes, or when we visit the nearest and dearest 5000 miles away.

[aernethril]

Well, here we go again.

Google won't let me sign into my email accounts unless I tell them where I live (the town I normally sign in from) or give them some other personal information.

Nothing has changed at all - it's just personal data gathering which I object to.

They've been guessing my town up till now but not only seem to have found it for sure, every other webpage I go to now knows it too

I have the options to answer the security question - I don't have one set and certainly not my mother's maiden name which I'd never give them, or to Enter the last password you remember using with this Google Account which is the one I'm using now and have used for years.

So it's a load of lies that my account has been compromised.

Anyway, I've just tried entering a different town and guess what - I'm in!

So much for their security.

I now look forward to google news and all the other websites rapidly changing to tell me I live somewhere else.

[slloydie]

Try changing your password after eBay insist on it - takes half an hour and browser suggestions are usually rejected.

It's pretty terrible but since other web auction sites are even worse than this one has to persevere.

Oh, use a private browser, when you close it sign-out happens straight away.

[slloydie]

Just as a follow-up, use a private window in your web browser.

I use a mac and safari is default browser, and gmail for email as Apple's native mail app works better with this than anything else.

Thing is, ebay uses a lot of cookies and I've had the same issue, ebay also places lots of things on local caches as well - the only way I've found to stop this happening is to use a private browser, that way nothing is left after logging out which needn't be done, as closing the window does this and all data is removed at the same time.

Hope this helps!

[slloydie]

Think this works with firefox, chrome and others as well.